The New York Trilogy

Paul Auster

Apr 1990 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

The remarkable, acclaimed series of interconnected detective novels – from the author of 4 3 2 1:  A Novel

The New York Review of Books has called Paul Auster's work “one of the most distinctive niches in contemporary literature.” Moving at the breathless pace of a thriller, this uniquely stylized triology of detective novels begins with City of Glass, in which Quinn, a mystery writer, receives an ominous phone call in the middle of the night. He’s drawn into the streets of New York, onto an elusive case that’s more puzzling and more deeply-layered than anything he might have written himself. In Ghosts, Blue, a mentee of Brown, is hired by White to spy on Black from a window on Orange Street. Once Blue starts stalking Black, he finds his subject on a similar mission, as well. In The Locked Room, Fanshawe has disappeared, leaving behind his wife and baby and nothing but a cache of novels, plays, and poems.

This Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition includes an introduction from author and professor Lucy Sante, as well as a pulp novel-inspired cover from Art Spiegelman, Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic artist of Maus and In the Shadow of No Towers.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Ratings and reviews

Absolutely astounding. This automatically goes to my top 10 list of books ever read. Three novellas, fashioned as detective stories, but in reality more focused on the art and craft of writing, the role of the writer in the world and the obsession and detachment documenting and representing reality can engender, and the somewhat tenuous nature of how we define our own identity. If this sounds heady and tough to follow, it isn't - Auster keeps the tension building and the momentum moving forward, even when describing static moments, through his wonderful use of language. Amazing.

Deeply maddening, disturbing and fascinating

About the author

Paul Auster is the bestselling author of 4 3 2 1, Sunset Park, The Book of Illusions, Moon Palace, and The New York Trilogy, among many other works. In 2006, he was awarded the Prince of Asturias Prize for Literature.  His other honors include the Prix Médicis étranger for Leviathan, the Independent Spirit Award for the screenplay of Smoke, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Burning Boy, and the Carlos Fuentes Prize for his body of work.  His most recent novel, 4 3 2 1, was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.  He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and is a Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. His work has been translated into more than forty languages. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.