More from my Book Review Archives
Posted on July 29th, 2009
My review of this book appeared originally in another publication and is reprinted here:
Brooklyn Follies
By Paul Auster
Henry Holt and Company, $24.00, 304 pages
ISBN 0-8050-7714-6
Meet Nathan Glass. He is eager to tell you all about himself. But to hear Nathan tell it, he is—at least at the outset of this superbly comic novel—a cynical fifty-nine year old man who has returned to Brooklyn for only one reason: He is quietly waiting to drop dead. And as if Nathan’s outlook isn’t morbid enough, he seems eager to whip his poor rotten soul like some medieval penitent as he blames himself for nearly everything that had gone wrong in his disintegrating life: an acrimonious divorce, a battle against cancer, and an estrangement from his daughter.
Then, while he wanders alone through the dark hollows of his existence in Brooklyn—something like a displaced Candide—Nathan finds out that something remarkable is beginning to happen. First he encounters a long-lost nephew, Tom Wood, whose life seems nearly as damaged as Nathan’s. Then Nathan meets Tom’s enigmatic boss, the flamboyant bookstore owner Harry Brightman. With Tom and Harry as his unlikely companions, Nathan quickly finds himself swept away on a life-affirming odyssey filled with bizarre adventures and glorious revelations. Through Nathan’s ironic involvement, all sorts of people discover renewed capacities for love, happiness, redemption, and a profound sense of community. And even as things around everyone are falling terrifyingly apart, everything somehow turns out for the best in Brooklyn, the best of all possible words.
The Brooklyn Follies is another Paul Auster masterpiece! Ever since The New York Trilogy nearly twenty years ago, Auster—through dozens of books—has consistently produced increasingly dazzling, provocative writing. He may remind readers of Franz Kafka, Nathaniel West and Phillip Roth, but Auster—as brilliant postmodern parodist and satirist—is a unique talent. He may, in fact, be America’s best writer. The Brooklyn Follies is quite simply a wonderful lyrical novel, a joyful celebration of life’s pleasures and ironies—even in the face of terror and death! Read it for the laughter and wisdom it will bring you. You will not be disappointed.
Tags: Acrimonious Divorce, Best Of All Possible Words, Bizarre Adventures, Book Review Archives, Bookstore Owner, Comic Novel, Dark Hollows, Estrangement, Franz Kafka, Henry Holt, Holt And Company, Nathaniel West, Parodist, Paul Auster, Penitent, Phillip Roth, Profound Sense, Rotten Soul, Satirist, York Trilogy
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