I had recently just read 4321 which is his most recent and epic in scale. I was blown away by it to the extent of easily saying i have never read or experienced a work of art quite like it. I am always a fan of a larger work of art meaning i love jazz or instrumental music --long films, and long epic books. For me i love to be with the characters as long as possible for maximum reality suspension. I was sad to learn that 4321 was his longest novel. I was excited to read another one after - a return to modern times after 5 novels by Trollope. I picked Book of Illusions randomly. I loved this one as well being that is contained the elements that made 4321 great though it overall, did not hit me like the masterwork 4321.What i loved about this one is it maintains my positive impression of Austere the person. What i mean by this is he seems to make works of art that work on multiple aesthetic levels. I noticed this about his 2 films as well 1 he directed/wrote and the other he wrote. Art appreciation and the overall struggles of an artist is one of the first things that impressed me about his writing craft. Austere seems to constantly throw in historical info that makes the work seem borderline historical fiction. He uses great ways to connect historical events to his characters. This story takes place in the 1980's. 4321 was the 50's and 60's and in that book he creates a disturbing picture of what it was like on a day to day basis on campus during the Vietnam war--he did it on a different way--where you feel very sympathetic for people dodging the draft. In Book of Illusions you learn a lot about the history of film with silent film being the focus.I will not get into the plot but talk about the themes and style.--This story is about learning to cope with loss and starting again after events in life that throw you off of you desired path. In this story the main character researches a silent film artist/ director he came across during a mourning period. He has recently lost loved ones and uses this silent film forgotten man as a way to deal with his depression.Austere creatively chooses silent film artists dealing with the death of their art form mixed with an outside individual who is also an artist utilizing their story as therapy therefore showcasing ultimately the power of art. This theme was all throughout 4321 and i hope it will continue in the next novel of his i read.This novel is also an experimental one just like 4321 in that in is delivered in an unconventional way. 4321 was literally 4 stories that go on at the same time and fuse together. Book of Illusions starts off with the story about the man investigating the silent film guy the n for the whole middle of the novel switches to a dramatic history of the silent film man not switching back to the original story for a long time. It is not clique in the way Austere does it.Austere is a master here at not giving you commercial fills like he does not check in on the original characters when he goes into the at times disturbing story about the silent film guy. His ending is not predictable and does not give the reader the mind candy tidbits that usually accompany this type of story. He keeps the story bright and shiny with genuinely tear jerking moments that are not forced in an overly sentimental way.