Book description
'I was looking for a quiet place to die. Someone recommended
Brooklyn, and so the next morning I travelled down there from
Westchester to scope out the terrain . . .' 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, indeed, from
life in general. Having accidentally ended up in the same Brooklyn
neighbourhood, they discover a community teeming with life and
passion. When Lucy, a little girl who refuses to speak, comes into
their lives, there is suddenly a bridge from their pasts that offers
them the possibility of redemption. Infused with character, mystery
and humour, 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.
Paul Auster was born in New Jersey in 1947. After attending
Columbia University he lived in France for four years. Since 1974 he
has published poems, essays, novels, screenplays, and translations. He
lives in Brooklyn, New York.
