Reviews
"Brilliantly rendered, intricately plotted . . . a magnum opus ."-- Columbia Magazine "Auster's first novel in seven years is . . . . an ingenious move . . . . Auster's sense of possibility, his understanding of what all his Fergusons have in common, with us and one another, is a kind of quiet intensity, a striving to discover who they are. . . . [He] reminds us that not just life, but also narrative is always conditional, that it only appears inevitable after the fact."-- Kirkus (starred review ) "Auster has been turning readers' heads for three decades, bending the conventions of storytelling . . . . He now presents his most capacious, demanding, eventful, suspenseful, erotic, structurally audacious, funny, and soulful novel to date . . . [a] ravishing opus ."-- Booklist (starred review ) " Rich and detailed . It's about accidents of fate, and the people and works of art and experiences that shape our lives even before our birth--what reader doesn't vibrate at that frequency?"--Lydia Kiesling, Slate "Auster lluminates how the discrete moments in one's life form the plot points of a sprawling narrative, rife with possibility."-- Library Journal (starred review ) " Frisky and sinuous . . . energetic . . . . A portrait of a cultural era coming into being . . . the era that is our own."-- Tablet magazine "Almost everything about Auster's new novel is big. . . Satisfyingly rich in detail . . . . A significant and immersive entry to a genre that stretches back centuries and includes Augie March and Tristram Shandy ."-- Publishers Weekly "Paul Auster's long, rich novel--about the life of a curious, observant boy named Archie Ferguson--is well worth the time investment. Auster writes magnificent sentences , and the book's characters are all incredibly compelling , which meant we couldn't wait to find out where the story would take them. 4 3 2 1 is a book about family and Americana and the ways we find and make meaning in the world."-- iBooks Review, "Auster has been turning readers' heads for three decades, bending the conventions of storytelling . . . . He now presents his most capacious, demanding, eventful, suspenseful, erotic, structurally audacious, funny, and soulful novel to date . . . [a] ravishing opus ."-- Booklist ( starred review ) "Almost everything about Auster's new novel is big. . . Satisfyingly rich in detail . . . . A significant and immersive entry to a genre that stretches back centuries and includes Augie March and Tristram Shandy ."-- Publishers Weekly, "Auster's first novel in seven years is . . . . an ingenious move . . . . Auster's sense of possibility, his understanding of what all his Fergusons have in common, with us and one another, is a kind of quiet intensity, a striving to discover who they are. . . . [He] reminds us that not just life, but also narrative is always conditional, that it only appears inevitable after the fact."-- Kirkus ( starred review ) "Auster has been turning readers' heads for three decades, bending the conventions of storytelling . . . . He now presents his most capacious, demanding, eventful, suspenseful, erotic, structurally audacious, funny, and soulful novel to date . . . [a] ravishing opus ."-- Booklist ( starred review ) "Almost everything about Auster's new novel is big. . . Satisfyingly rich in detail . . . . A significant and immersive entry to a genre that stretches back centuries and includes Augie March and Tristram Shandy ."-- Publishers Weekly, Praise for Paul Auster "One of the great prose stylists of our time." -- The New York Times Book Review "Auster has an enormous talent for creating worlds that are both fantastic and believable."-- San Francisco Chronicle, " Ingenious . . . . Structurally inventive and surprisingly moving . . . . 4 3 2 1 reads like [a] big social drama . . . while also offering the philosophical exploration of one man's fate."-- Esquire " Mesmerizing . . . Continues to push the narrative envelope. . . . Four distinct characters whose lives diverge and intersect in devious, rollicking ways, reminiscent of Kate Atkinson's Life After Life . . . . Prismatic and rich in period detail , 4 3 2 1 reflects the high spirits of postwar America as well as the despair coiled, asplike, in its shadows."-- O, the Oprah Magazine "The power of [Auster's] best work is . . . his faithful pursuit of the mission proposed in The Invention of Solitude , to explore the ' infinite possibilities of a limited space ' . . . . The effect [of 4 3 2 1 ] is almost cubist in its multidimensionality --that of a single, exceptionally variegated life displayed in the round. . . . [An] impressively ambitious novel."-- Harper's Magazine "Brilliantly rendered, intricately plotted . . . a magnum opus ."-- Columbia Magazine "Auster's first novel in seven years is . . . . an ingenious move . . . . Auster's sense of possibility, his understanding of what all his Fergusons have in common, with us and one another, is a kind of quiet intensity, a striving to discover who they are. . . . [He] reminds us that not just life, but also narrative is always conditional, that it only appears inevitable after the fact."-- Kirkus (starred review ) "Auster has been turning readers' heads for three decades, bending the conventions of storytelling . . . . He now presents his most capacious, demanding, eventful, suspenseful, erotic, structurally audacious, funny, and soulful novel to date . . . [a] ravishing opus ."-- Booklist (starred review ) " Rich and detailed . It's about accidents of fate, and the people and works of art and experiences that shape our lives even before our birth--what reader doesn't vibrate at that frequency?"--Lydia Kiesling, Slate "Auster illuminates how the discrete moments in one's life form the plot points of a sprawling narrative, rife with possibility."-- Library Journal (starred review ) " Frisky and sinuous . . . energetic . . . . A portrait of a cultural era coming into being . . . the era that is our own."-- Tablet magazine "Almost everything about Auster's new novel is big. . . Satisfyingly rich in detail . . . . A significant and immersive entry to a genre that stretches back centuries and includes Augie March and Tristram Shandy ."-- Publishers Weekly "Paul Auster's long, rich novel--about the life of a curious, observant boy named Archie Ferguson--is well worth the time investment. Auster writes magnificent sentences , and the book's characters are all incredibly compelling , which meant we couldn't wait to find out where the story would take them. 4 3 2 1 is a book about family and Americana and the ways we find and make meaning in the world."-- iBooks Review, "Brilliantly rendered, intricately plotted . . . a magnum opus ."-- Columbia magazine "Auster's first novel in seven years is . . . . an ingenious move . . . . Auster's sense of possibility, his understanding of what all his Fergusons have in common, with us and one another, is a kind of quiet intensity, a striving to discover who they are. . . . [He] reminds us that not just life, but also narrative is always conditional, that it only appears inevitable after the fact."-- Kirkus ( starred review ) "Auster has been turning readers' heads for three decades, bending the conventions of storytelling . . . . He now presents his most capacious, demanding, eventful, suspenseful, erotic, structurally audacious, funny, and soulful novel to date . . . [a] ravishing opus ."-- Booklist ( starred review ) "Auster lluminates how the discrete moments in one's life form the plot points of a sprawling narrative, rife with possibility."-- Library Journal ( starred review ) " Frisky and sinuous . . . energetic . . . . A portrait of a cultural era coming into being . . . the era that is our own."-- Tablet magazine "Almost everything about Auster's new novel is big. . . Satisfyingly rich in detail . . . . A significant and immersive entry to a genre that stretches back centuries and includes Augie March and Tristram Shandy ."-- Publishers Weekly
