Adam Walker, student, is invited to the house of lecturer Rudolf Born. Here he meets the seductive and solitary Margot. His relationship to Margot is secondary to an incident that occurs when in the company of Born, something so disturbing that Walker carries it with him for the rest of his life. This is a magnificent novel. Paul Auster's writing so captivating, so powerful that even when he diverts into areas that some my term taboo he does it with style and conviction, that the reader cannot help but be moved. The action moves swiftly between Walker's youth and his later years, between Paris and New York, and there is a feeling of justice pervailing in the final chapters. I quite simply loved this book, it is short, sharp, poignant, brutal and unforgettable, in equal measures. Highly Recommended.

A challenging and oppressive multi-narrative thriller in which a promising poet's chance encounter with an impassioned Frenchman (and his mysterious girlfriend) radically alters the course of his life. Blurs the lines between truth/memory, reader/author, with violence, loss, and sex thrown in. What more could an Auster fan want?!

This story is an okish sort of read, not a story to stick in your brain and remember.