The Brooklyn Follies

This is a great book, written by a man I wish I could be real friends with. Indeed, Paul Auster makes you feel like an old chum he's taking out to lunch and to whom he's confiding an intimate account of the chances and follies of a handful of people that are very close to him.

Some of the matter-of-fact situations in the "The Brooklyn Follies", however, are in reality very improbable, which in my view only adds to the story's charm as a modern, twisted yet pleasant fairy tale with a bitter aftertaste: when seemingly all's well and the story ends, it's 8 am on September 11, 2001.

Very American, in the very best sense of the word.

Click on the book cover to read the Guardian's Digested Read.

Synopsis

"I was looking for a quiet place to die". So begins Paul Auster's remarkable new novel, "The Brooklyn Follies". Set against the backdrop of the contested US election of 2000, it tells the story of Nathan and Tom, an uncle and nephew double-act. One in remission from lung cancer, divorced, and estranged from his only daughter, the other hiding away from his once-promising academic career, and life in general. Having accidentally ended up in the same Brooklyn neighbourhood, they discover a community teeming with life and passion. When Lucy, the little girl who refuses to speak, comes into their lives there is suddenly a bridge from their pasts that may offer them the possibility of redemption. Filled with stories and characters, mystery and fraud, these lives intertwine and become bound together as Auster brilliantly explores the wider terrain of contemporary America - a crucible of broken dreams and of human folly.

Reviews

Guardian, Times, Telegraph, Metacritic