Overview

The Sun and the Moon tells the delightful, entertaining, and surprisingly true story of how in the summer of 1835 a series of articles in the Sun, the first of the citys penny papers, convinced the citizens of New York that the moon was inhabited. Six articles, purporting to reveal the lunar discoveries made by a world-famous British astronomer, described the life found on the moon-including unicorns, beavers that walked upright, and, strangest of all, four-foot-tall flying man-bats. The series quickly became the most widely circulated newspaper story of the era. And the Sun, a brash working-class upstart less than two years old, had become the most widely read newspaper in the world. Told in richly novelistic detail, The Sun and the Moon brings the raucous world of 1830s New York City vividly to life-the noise, the excitement, the sense that almost anything was possible. The book overflows with larger-than-life characters, including Richard Adams Locke, author of the moon series (who never intended it to be a hoax at all); a fledgling showman named P. T. Barnum, who had just brought his own hoax to New York; and the young writer Edgar Allan Poe, who was convinced that the moon series was a plagiarism of his own work. An exhilarating narrative history of a city on the cusp of greatness and a nation newly united by affordable newspapers, The Sun and the Moon may just be the strangest true story youve ever read.

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9780465002573

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Reviews

Nature The Sun and the Moon is a wonderful cautionary tale, especially in an era like our own. Library Journal This is a rollicking read. Anne Fadiman, author of At Large and At Small and The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down I doubt I will ever read another book in which newspapers, New York, and biped lunar beavers all figure prominently. Matthew Goodman has assembled his improbable cast with wit and grace. Edwin G. Burrows, co-author of Gotham The Sun and the Moon is flat-out fascinating--not only for its brilliant reconstruction of one of the great newspaper hoaxes of the nineteenth century, but also for the Dickensian characters who populate its pages, each more outlandish and outrageous than the other. Hats off to Goodman for one of the most entertaining books about New York City in quite some time. Kevin Baker, author of Dreamland and Paradise Alley The Sun and the Moon is addictive, a mesmerizing story of a great hoax, and the old New York where it came to pass. Wonderful! Boston Globe Highly entertaining. Rocky Mountain News A fascinating account of the most successful hoax in the history of American journalism. Los Angeles Times [A] delightful history.... The genius of The Sun and the Moon is that it endeavors to explore, through the lens of 19th century New York and the prism of the press, why we believe what we believe, particularly when those beliefs go beyond the pale of plausibility. The Wall Street Journal Mr. Goodman has managed not only to give us a ripping good newspaper yarn but also toilluminate life in the nation's largest city in the early part of the 19th century. He also provides something of a treatise on the birth of modern mass-market newspapering. Sky & Telescope Goodman presents a fascinating story about life in 19th-century New York, the savagely competitive newspaper business, and public entrancement with new sciences. Economist, (Best Books of the Year) In retelling the story of how, in the 1830s, the New York Sun tried to persuade its readers there was life on the moon, Matthew Goodman vividly brings to life a town on the brink of becoming a world-class city.

Nature <br> The Sun and the Moon is a wonderful cautionary tale, especially in an era like our own. <br> <p><br> Library Journal <br> This is a rollicking read. <br> <p><br> Anne Fadiman, author of At Large and At Small and The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down <br> I doubt I will ever read another book in which newspapers, New York, and biped lunar beavers all figure prominently. Matthew Goodman has assembled his improbable cast with wit and grace. <br> <p><br> Edwin G. Burrows, co-author of Gotham<br> The Sun and the Moon is flat-out fascinating--not only for its brilliant reconstruction of one of the great newspaper hoaxes of the nineteenth century, but also for the Dickensian characters who populate its pages, each more outlandish and outrageous than the other. Hats off to Goodman for one of the most entertaining books about New York City in quite some time. <br> <p><br> Kevin Baker, author of Dreamland and Paradise Alley <br> The Sun and the Moon is addictive, a mesmerizing story of a great hoax, and the old New York where it came to pass. Wonderful! <br> <p><br> Boston Globe <br> Highly entertaining. <br> <p><br> Rocky Mountain News <br> A fascinating account of the most successful hoax in the history of American journalism. <br> <p><br> Los Angeles Times <br> [A] delightful history.... The genius of The Sun and the Moon is that it endeavors to explore, through the lens of 19th century New York and the prism of the press, why we believe what we believe, particularly when those beliefs go beyond the pale of plausibility. <br> <p><br> The Wall Street Journal <br> Mr. Goodman has managed not only to give us a ripping good newspaper yarn but also toilluminate life in the nation's largest city in the early part of the 19th century. He also provides something of a treatise on the birth of modern mass-market newspapering. <br> <p><br> Sky & Telescope <br> Goodman presents a fascinating story about life in 19th-century New York, the savagely competitive newspaper business, and public entrancement with new sciences. <br> <p><br> Economist, (Best Books of the Year)<br> In retelling the story of how, in the 1830s, the New York Sun tried to persuade its readers there was life on the moon, Matthew Goodman vividly brings to life a town on the brink of becoming a world-class city.

Author Information

Matthew Goodman's fiction and non-fiction writing has appeared in many magazines and literary journals in America. A lifetime New Yorker, he lives in New York City with his wife and children.

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