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The New York Trilogy
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The New York Trilogy

The New York Trilogy (collective work) (edit title/settings)

by Paul Auster (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

Combining dark humor, Hitchcock-like suspense, and film-noir prose, these three unique novels--united--form a powerful and thought-provoking puzzle.

The New York Trilogy is composed of three stories: "City of Glass," "Ghosts" and "The Locked Room"

Books in This Collection

  1. City of Glass

    City of Glass

    by Paul Auster (Author)

    A mystery writer assumes a detective's identity and embarks on a bizzare case: he must protect a man from his criminally insane father, and as he follows the elusive criminal, he embarks on a mission that takes him to the depths of his own...

  2. Ghosts

    Ghosts

    by Paul Auster (Author)

    A fiction writer compiles his essays and interviews with such literary greats as Franz Kafka, Samuel Beckett, Paul Celan, and more in a book that calls attention to the dangerous stakes of writing and undermines accepted notions about...

  3. The Locked Room

    The Locked Room

    by Paul Auster (Author)

Summary edit see section history

The first story, City of Glass, features a detective-fiction writer become private investigator who descends into madness as he becomes embroiled in a case. It explores layers of identity and reality, from Paul Auster the writer of the novel to the unnamed "author" who reports the events as... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

The first story, City of Glass, features a detective-fiction writer become private investigator who descends into madness as he becomes embroiled in a case. It explores layers of identity and reality, from Paul Auster the writer of the novel to the unnamed "author" who reports the events as reality to "Paul Auster the writer", a character in the story, to "Paul Auster the detective", who may or may not exist in the novel, to Peter Stillman the younger to Peter Stillman the elder and, finally, to Daniel Quinn, the protagonist.

The second story, Ghosts, is about a private eye called Blue, trained by Brown, who is investigating a man named Black on Orange Street for a client named White. Blue writes written reports to White who in turn pays him for his work. Blue becomes frustrated and loses himself as he becomes immersed in the life of Black.

The Locked Room is the story of a writer who lacks the creativity to produce fiction. Fanshawe, his childhood friend has produced creative work, and when he disappears the writer publishes his work and replaces him in his family. The title is a reference to a "locked room mystery", a popular form of early detective fiction.

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Quotes edit see section history

  • “Because he needs me...He needs my eye looking at him. He needs me to prove he's alive.”
    Black
  • “But that was the work of memory, and remembered things, he knew, had a tendency to subvert the things remembered. As a consequence, he could never be sure of any of it.”
  • “For knowledge comes slowly, and when it comes, it is often at great personal expense.”
  • “But the present is no less dark than the past, and its mystery is equal to anything the future might hold.”

First Sentence edit see section history

IT was a wrong number that started it, the telephone ringing three times in the dead of night, and the voice on the other end asking for someone he was not.

Table of Contents edit see section history

Orasul de sticla
Fantoma
Camera incuiata

Glossary edit see section history

  • Glossolaliac: One who speaks in tongues.
  • Locution: A person's style of speech.
  • Exegetical: Relating to the critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially of Scripture.
  • Palimpsest: A manuscript or piece of writing material on which the original writing has been effaced to make room for later writing; something reused or altered but still bearing visible traces of its earlier form.
  • Paucity: The presence of something only in small or insufficient quantities or amounts; scarcity
  • LycĂ©e: A secondary school in France that is funded by the government.
  • Trope: A figurative or metaphorical use of a word or expression.

Series & Lists edit see section history

This book is in The New York Trilogy. (standard series)
This is book 219 of 1272 in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. (authoritative list)

Preceded by The Bonfire of the Vanities, and followed by World's End.

This book is in Penguin Classic Deluxe Edition Book Covers. (community list)
This is book 69 of 100 in 20th Century's Greatest Hits: 100 English-Language Books of Fiction. (authoritative list)

Preceded by The Franchiser, and followed by Skinny Legs and All.

This book is in Guardian 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read. (authoritative list)
This book is in Faber Firsts. (community list)

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Paul Auster (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Country: USA
Publication Date: 1987
ISBN: 0-571-14925-1
Page Count: 478

Classification edit see section history

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

Books That Influenced This Book edit see section history

   
  • Fanshawe

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