4 3 2 1 by PAUL AUSTER (2017)

If I had not first read the cover flaps on my copy of 4 3 2 1, I would have become totally confused as I progressed through the book. The first section, titled "1.0" tells the background story of the protagonist's grandparents and parents, from the arrival of the family in America from Minsk in 1900 until Ferguson's birth in 1947. The second section, titled "1.1" recounts Ferguson's childhood up to age 9. His father owns an appliance store, employing two uncles, and his mother has her own photography business. Their life is uneventful until Albert, one of the uncles, betrays the father by spearheading a robbery of the warehouse, and he must close the store.

That's when the confusion begins. The third section, titled "1.2" seems to be telling further details of Ferguson's youth, except suddenly some of the facts don't match up. For example, Albert does not rob the store, but the other uncle burns it to the ground for the insurance money. Then in section "1.3" the store also burns, but this time Ferguson's father dies in the fire. In section "1.4" Ferguson's father has opened several stores and the family is wealthy.

And so it goes, for 868 pages, up through section "7.4" and Ferguson's young manhood, telling the story of the four paths Ferguson might have taken or may have taken. It is all very disorienting, and I had to resort to taking notes about the major events to keep the four stories straight in my mind. It's like reading four books at once, all about the same person, with none of them telling the same story.

Paul Auster is an excellent writer, and thus this novel is very readable (except for the confusing part). But I really dislike books built on gimmicks. That Auster winds up with a metafiction climax is the ultimate gimmick. In addition, the constant name-dropping of high-browed writers and artists and composers to emphasize how intelligent Ferguson is (and by extension, how intelligent Auster is) becomes very irritating.

This novel has received good reviews, but it is not my idea of a good read.