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The Sun and the Moon

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

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The Sun and the Moon

Written by: Matthew Goodman
Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
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About this listen

 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. 19th Century Education & Learning Media Studies United States Writing, Research & Publishing Guides New York

What the critics say

"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)

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Profile Image for Roberta W

The moon as you never imagined it!

This was a really great book and a nice surprise! Not aware of “the moon hoax” of the 1830’s, I found the whole account both fascinating and entertaining. Without the benefit of knowledge of what the moon is really like, of course ‘discoveries’ would have been met with a sense of wonder. Who can say when the reader should have started to doubt what the dailies described?
Lots of history here of New York, the six-penny and penny newspapers, astronomy, dioramas and poetry! Edgar Allan Poe and PT Barnum make appearances, as does William Herschel (the man who discovered Uranus). Highly recommended.

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