Brooklyn Follies

by Paul Auster

Genres: Family Life; Literary Fiction

Synopsis

From the bestselling author of Oracle Night and The Book of Illusions, an exhilarating, whirlwind tale of one man’s accidental redemption

Nathan Glass has come to Brooklyn to die. Divorced, retired, estranged from his only daughter, the former life insurance salesman seeks only solitude and anonymity. Then Glass encounters his long-lost nephew, Tom Wood, who is working in a local bookstore--a far cry from the brilliant academic career he’d begun when Nathan saw him last. Tom’s boss is the colorful and charismatic Harry Brightman--aka Harry Dunkel--once the owner of a Chicago art gallery, whom fate has also brought to the “ancient kingdom of Brooklyn, New York.” Through Tom and Harry, Nathan’s world gradually broadens to include a new set of acquaintances--not to mention a stray relative or two--and leads him to a reckoning with his past.

With The Brooklyn Follies, the always astonishing Paul Auster has written what is undoubtedly his warmest, most exuberant novel, a moving, unforgettable hymn to the glories and mysteries of ordinary human life.