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 Tom had begun when Nathan saw him last. Tom's boss is the colorful and charismatic Harry Brightman--a.k.a. 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 circle of acquaintances. He soon finds himself drawn into a scam involving a forged page of The Scarlet Letter, and begins to undertake his own literary venture, The Book of Human Folly, an account of "every blunder, every pratfall, every embarrassment, every idiocy, every foible, and every inane act I have committed during my long and checkered career as a man."
The Brooklyn Follies is Paul Auster's warmest, most exuberant novel, a moving, unforgettable hymn to the glories and mysteries of ordinary human life.
This story follows the life of an older man literally looking for a good place to die. He settles on Brooklyn. But as in all things, life catches up with him. He is sucked into a world of double lives, orphans, and side tracked trips. Austere is such a great writer. You feel the awkwardness of every situation like you were standing next to the characters. If you like whimsy and quirky writing this book is for you.
Just when a guy thinks he's ready to die, life starts getting interesting. Maybe your overweight nephew has given up on life and is wasting his talents working for a gay bookseller with a questionable past or your niece has been out of touch after her porn career ended with drug rehab or your daughter doesn't speak to you. But, nothing stays the same. Life comprises not just the unexplainably bad but also the unexpectedly good.