"The New York Trilogy", a volume containing three separate novellas: "The City of Glass", "Ghosts" and " The Locked Room", is an intriguing example of the author's game with the readers and, perhaps, with himself. The motif common for all three stories in the mystery, the solution of which is pursued by the main character, and the place of action, New York City (I do not agree with one of the reviewers who said New York could be here any other urban environment as well; certainly it could not be any European city, NYC gives these stories the distinct character and for anyone who has walked the streets through which the characters wander, it is a setting unmistakable for any other; The City's atmosphere hangs over the characters like a cloud).

"The City of Glass" features Quinn, a solitary man, living quietly after the death of his wife and son, and writing detective stories under a pseudonym. One night, Quinn receives a mysterious phone call from a man demanding the services of a private detective, Paul Auster... Although it is clearly a wrong number, Quinn decides to pretend to be Auster and take the challenge, changing his life forever.

A complete change of life circumstances is also a fate of the protagonist of a second (and the shortest) novella "Ghosts". Blue, who is a professional private detective, receives a task from the disguised client, White, to watch Black. The trouble is, Black never does anything interesting except reading or writing, and bored Blue tries to find out, where the real secret of this investigation lies.

In the last novella "The Locked Room", the main character is involved in the publication of the works of his missing childhood friend, Fanshawe. The books are a great success, he marries Fanshawe's wife and he assumes Fanshawe's identity, happily at the beginning...

These novellas are not, as has been pointed out by many reviewers before me, typical mysteries, where clues lead to conclusions and the reader may amuse himself with finding a correct answer. They are, on one hand, explorations of the soul, of the unknown in us, and, on the other hand, and taken together, a postmodern riddle, with literary jokes, cultural clues. They can be read on various levels, which is what really makes them interesting. For somebody, who expects a mystery story from the beginning to the end this book would be a disappointment, However, it is rewarding for the reader interested in reading itself (sounds absurd, I know, but this may be the truth - books play an enormous role in all the novellas). The introduction of Auster, as a detective, but really a writer in the first story, as opposed to Quinn, the writer, who has to become the detective, is only one of the twists here. The exercise with giving the characters the name of the colors (after all, what, if not "real" names make the reader think of the book characters as real? And are the color names unreal? Such names are common enough...) - is another.

By the way, has anyone been lured into drawing Quinn's walk on the street grid of Manhattan?

"The New York Trilogy", by celebrated author Paul Auster, is made up of 3, somewhat interlinked, long stories which were originately published separately at various times around 1985-86.
There is no doubt that Paul Auster is a terrific writer so I won't even get into that aspect of the book.
Let's get down to what's really important by trying to pinpoint the subject matter, i.e., what "the new york trilogy" is really about: in a sense, it's a mystery, in the true sense of the word, because even in the end many questions (most, I dare say) are left unanswered, many stones unturned and many cues are simply left hanging in the air.
The NYT has been described as metaphysical detective fiction and the description might in fact prove apt: each of the 3 stories follows the investigations of one man which always turn into an obsession, making the man completely lose touch with the reality. The NYT is thus much about mental processes, we see each of the 3 main chracters gradually become so absorbed by their quest that they lose all sense of proportion and stop thinking like the rest of us.
It's also a novel about writing because writing, depicted as the greatest obsession of all, always plays a role in the stories.
There is also a definite surreal element in most stories and, quite often, they reminded me of Dino Buzzati's short stories.
The author is obviously very pleased with himself, playing with his own name (much like B.E. Ellis does in his recent "Lunar Park") and toying with the other character's names (which pop up in different stories, alluding to the possibility of a strong link between them all).
Did I like the book? As much as it's clever and well-written, it leaves you with a sense of un-completeness, too much stuff remains only vaguely hinted at (I was never one to fall for open-endings. Plus, everything is open here, much more than necessary) and in the ends, the whole thing sound more like an elaborate intellectual game that engaging fiction. Thus, I give the novel 3 stars although this is in no way diminishes my appreciation of the author's talent.

"The New York Trilogy" isn't a novel. As the name would imply, it's a trilogy of novella length short stories, each revolving around a similar theme. While externally, each is pinned to a common geography - namely the city of New York - internally, they tackle the more complicated issue of self-identity and self-worth.

The building blocks Auster uses to create these stories hinges on the concept of creating a setting where the protagonist is pulled into a mystery and forced to take the role of detective:

In "City of Glass," our narrator is an author who gets a call from someone looking for a detective, and he decides to play along. The unfolding mystery turns the city itself into an antagonist, while carrying our hero into an ever-devolving exploration of self.

In "Ghosts," our narrator isn't playing at being a detective, but is in fact an actual detective. He is, however, cajoled into performing an investigation similar to City of Glass, which takes him out of the traditional realm of detective work, and sets him up to essentially spy on his own reality.

Finally, "The Locked Room" sees a return to the author as protagonist, as he begins a literary (and eventually physical) search for his one-time childhood friend. With a few nods to the first story, Auster attempts to tie the trio together in a fairly loose bundle.

As with many post-modern stories, "The New York Trilogy" is grounded in the psyches of its protagonists and to a certain extent its author. It would probably be impractical, if not impossible, to discuss these stories in terms of plot, as the action that moves them isn't what's happening in the ebb and flow of each story's structure, but what each character is forced to face mentally.

If there's any shortcoming to Auster's writing, it's in the way he attempts to immerses his readers in his character's search for self through a fairly transparent mechanism of repetition. This is most noticeable in "Ghosts," where he essentially covers the same ground for twenty or thirty pages.

Even so, Auster's writing is unbelievably dense and enjoyable to read, and his stories are uniquely reflective of our society and culture. For this reason, I can see "The New York Trilogy" slipping into the canon of college literature courses over the next couple of decades.

The New York Trilogy is composed of three seemingly unconnected texts, all of which involve writing, notebooks, detective cases, and New York City. In City of Glass, Quinn, a detective-story novelist, becomes a detective himself and is wrapped up in a bizarre case about language. In Ghosts, Blue is a private eye hired by Black to monitor and report on White. For a year he watches White, and Blue's own life dissolves in the process. In The Locked Room, the narrator's childhood friend Fanshawe disappears, leaving behind a family and a closet of manuscripts. As the narrator sorts thought the manuscripts for publication, he becomes increasingly obsessed with Fanshawe's life, disappearance, and death. As a trilogy, the stories are entirely unconnected save for the themes of language, writing, notebooks, and investigation that carry through them all. The end result is a slew of unsolved mysteries that, as Auster often does, tantalize and lead on the reader without providing satisfying conclusions. The ideas are interesting, the texts read quickly, but they are ultimately unsatisfying, the questions are never answered, and they promise more than they ever deliver.

City of Glass was originally published alone and has an unfinished ending. The rest of The New York Trilogy offers no answers, but rather opens up new questions and rehashes familiar ideas in a series of unconnected-but-similar plots. The ideas are fascinating: Auster studies the uses of language, words, and writing, he dabbles a bit in identity and one's life's work and purpose, and he wraps all of his theories in mysteries and detective stories. The texts read quickly and keep you on your toes, looking for clues, interested in the plot progression.

However, the book isn't nearly as interesting when reread, and that says something about the mysteries themselves: unlike a good detective novel, the plots in Auster's texts never reach their conclusion. There are a plethora of clues and ideas, but ultimately the clues lead nowhere: there is no conclusion. As a result, the end of each text is frustrating, no matter how successful the body of it was, and rereads are tainted from the beginning with the knowledge that the text will never resolve itself.

If you are willing to explore Auster's ideas and deal with unsatisfactory conclusions, then I recommend this series. Up until the end, each installment is interesting, a little grotesque, unique, even ingenious. However, if you're looking for a solid plot then I advise you to pass over the series and instead find a writer who not only builds up but also delivers. Auster fails to do that--a purposeful choice, no doubt, but frustrating nonetheless.

Auster's The New York Trilogy is compelling, haunting and a beautiful work of genius. All 3 stories are unique and engaging. Auster is the best modern writer in America. --From the Author of the Cyclops Hammer.