The Sun and the Moon

Hoaxers, Showmen, and Lunar Man-Bats in 19th-Century New York

By: Matthew Goodman

Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner

The Sun and the Moon tells the delightful and surprisingly true story of how a series of articles in the Sun newspaper in 1835 convinced the citizens of New York that the moon was inhabited. Purporting to reveal discoveries of a famous British astronomer, the series described such moon life as unicorns, beavers that walked upright, and four-foot-tall flying man-bats. It quickly became the most widely circulated newspaper story of the era.

Told in richly novelistic detail, The Sun and the Moon brings the raucous world of 1830s New York City vividly to life, including such larger-than-life personages as Richard Adams Locke, who authored the moon series but who never intended it to be a hoax; fledgling showman P. T. Barnum, who had just brought his own hoax to town; and a young Edgar Allan Poe, convinced that the series was a plagiarism of his own work.

©2008 Matthew Goodman (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Goodman consistently entertains with his tale of press manipulation, hucksterism and the seemingly bottomless capacity for people to believe the most outrageous things. Absolutely charming." (Kirkus Reviews)
"The Sun and the Moon tells an intriguing story and reveals some fascinating facts about nineteenth-century New York." (Booklist)
"Mr. Goodman has managed not only to give us a ripping good newspaper yarn but also to illuminate 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." (Wall Street Journal)

surprisingly entertaining

the book was surprisingly entertaining and brought the era to life for me. I will surely revisit it.

some very good some very bad

Large parts of this book are very interesting and hold your attention 100%.
Large parts of this book quotes AT LENGTH some of the sources for the authors material. The original material written by this author are the fantastically good parts.The quoted material should be left on the shelf.
The narrator does a fantastic job of narration.