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The Brooklyn Follies

By Paul Auster

(219)

| Paperback | 9780571224982

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Book Description

Nathan Glass has come to Brooklyn to die. Divorced, estranged from his only daughter, the retired life insurance salesman seeks only solitude and anonymity. Then Nathan finds his long-lost nephew, Tom Wood, working in a local bookstore - a far cry from the brilliant academic career he'd begun when NContinue

Nathan Glass has come to Brooklyn to die. Divorced, estranged from his only daughter, the retired life insurance salesman seeks only solitude and anonymity. Then Nathan finds his long-lost nephew, Tom Wood, 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 charismatic Harry Brightman, 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. Among the many twists in the delicious plot are a scam involving a forgery of the first page of The Scarlet Letter, a disturbing revelation that takes place in a sperm bank, and an impossible, utopian dream of a rural refuge. Meanwhile, the wry and acerbic Nathan has undertaken something he calls The Book of Human Folly, in which he proposes "to set down in the simplest, clearest language possible an account of every blunder, every pratfall, every embarrassment, every idiocy, every foible, and every inane act I had committed during my long and checkered career as a man." But life takes over instead, and Nathan's despair is swept away as he finds himself more and more implicated in the joys and sorrows of others. The Brooklyn Follies is Paul Auster's warmest, most exuberant novel, a moving and unforgettable hymn to the glories and mysteries of ordinary human life.

Critics

  • Accident and life

    The Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster 320pp, Faber, £16.99 Each generation creates its own brand of nostalgia. Those of us who came of age in the 1960s are just as happy to tuck in with a nice, cosy Paul Auster as our parents were with the latest Agath ... (read full critics)

    guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

  • A city of dreamers

    The Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster Faber £16.99, pp304 'I am not normally prone to bouts of self-pity', comments Nathan Glass, the narrator of Paul Auster's latest novel, The Brooklyn Follies. We have little reason to believe him. This is the same N ... (read full critics)

    guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

13 Reviews

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  • 2 people find this helpful

    A very interesting reading, I'll definitely read more of Auster's work (got this and The New York Trilogy so far).
    I agree with the comment that says it's "a novel about human folly that turns out to be tremendously wise".

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    One More Book said on Nov 1, 2007 | Add your feedback

  • 1 person find this helpful

    Tipico Auster. Vicende bizzarre e un po' improbabili che capitano a gente comune, con le loro umanissime e comunissime pecche, personaggi che l'autore palesemente ama. E riesce a far amare anche a noi. Sottotraccia anche l'opposizione fra le due anime dell'America: liberale e conservatrice, democrat ... (continue)

    Tipico Auster. Vicende bizzarre e un po' improbabili che capitano a gente comune, con le loro umanissime e comunissime pecche, personaggi che l'autore palesemente ama. E riesce a far amare anche a noi. Sottotraccia anche l'opposizione fra le due anime dell'America: liberale e conservatrice, democratica e repubblicana, religiosa e laica, di provincia e newyorkese. Da che parte sta Auster, beh va da sé...

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    Herzen said on Jan 18, 2012 about the Others edition | Add your feedback

  • Real Auster

    This is the best novel I've read from Auster, although I must admit I began with his latest book and I found them interesting but not completely developed, they promised more in the beginning that what you finally found. Brooklyn follyes has been different for me, it goes straight to the characters’ ... (continue)

    This is the best novel I've read from Auster, although I must admit I began with his latest book and I found them interesting but not completely developed, they promised more in the beginning that what you finally found. Brooklyn follyes has been different for me, it goes straight to the characters’ core, and not only you got quickly engaged with them, but the plot takes unexpected turns just until the final pages. It’s been told in first person, as if Nathan looked back from his final days, the most interesting and touching of his whole life. With Brooklyn as a perfect backstage, you can learn from this book that nothing is really over meanwhile you are alife, in Spanish we say “hasta el rabo todo es toro”, so don’t hesitate and use your time to maximum

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    ppucedac said on Nov 4, 2011 | Add your feedback

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