4 3 2 1
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SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE
A GLOBE AND MAIL BEST BOOK
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR
One man, four lives. It is March 3, 1947, in the maternity ward of Beth Israel Hospital in Newark, New Jersey, when Archibald Isaac Ferguson--sole child of Rose and Stanley Ferguson--is born into the world. From that single beginning, Archibald Isaac Ferguson's life will take four simultaneous and independent fictional paths. Four Fergusons, made of the same genetic material; four boys who are the same boy will go on to lead four parallel and entirely different lives that see them transform into four very different men. Family fortunes diverge. Loves, friendships, and intellectual passions contrast. In an elaborate dance of inner worlds enfolded within the outer forces of history, the rotating narrative spins an intimate plot of each Ferguson's story, as they rush across the tumultuous and fractured terrain of mid-twentieth century America; as a boy grows up again and again and again.
An endeavor of ambition and ingenuity, 4 3 2 1 is a story of infinite possibility, of birthright, of love won and lost, and of the fullness to which a life can be lived. This is Auster's pièce de résistance.
About this Author
PAUL AUSTER is the bestselling author of Groundwork: Autobiographical Writings, 4 3 2 1, Sunset Park, Invisible, The Book of Illusions, and the New York Trilogy, among other works. In 2006, he was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award for Literature. Among his other honors are the Prix Médicis Étranger for Leviathan, the Independent Spirit Award for the screenplay of Smoke, and the Premio Napoli for Sunset Park. In 2012, he was the first recipient of the NYC Literary Honors in the category of fiction. He has also been a finalist for the DUBLIN Literary Award, the PEN/Faulkner Award, the Edgar Award, and the Booker Prize. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and a Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. His work has been translated into more than forty languages.
Format: Trade paperback
Pages: 880
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
Published: 2017-10-05
Reviews
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE
A GLOBE AND MAIL BEST BOOK
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR
"Contemporary American writing at its best: crisp, elegant, brisk. It has the illusion of effortlessness that comes only with fierce discipline. As often happens when you are in the hands of a master, you read the next sentence almost before you are finished with the previous one." --New York Times Book Review
"One of America's greatest living novelists." --The Observer
"Auster's ruminations on death, family, memory, and marriage are both poignant and delightful." --The New Yorker
"Paul Auster is definitely a genius." --Haruki Murakami
"It is the rarest of books--a masterpiece by a genius." --NJ.com
"Certain books leave readers feeling they know every minute detail of a character's inner life, as if they were lifelong companions and daily confidants. . . . And for readers who like taking the scenic route, getting taken for a ride will be worth it." --Time
"The novel is distinguished by the surprisingly muted exploitation of its high-concept premise." --The New York Review of Books
"Audacious in conception and execution. . . . Packed with cerebral and physical activity, meticulously wrought and written in prose so energised that, at times, it leaves one breathless." --Moira Lovell
"A stunningly ambitious novel, and a pleasure to read. Auster's writing is joyful, even in the book's darkest moments, and never ponderous or showy. . . . An incredibly moving, true journey." --Michael Schaub, NPR
"4 3 2 1 features a distinctly different style than any [Auster has] written fiction in before. Breathless, propulsive, almost Kerouac-like in its tidal force." --The Brooklyn Rail
"We're lured in by Auster's fine-grained scene-setting and intrigue at his intentions." --Anthony Cummins, The Guardian
"Wonderfully clever. . . . 4 3 2 1 is much more than a piece of literary gamesmanship. . . . It is a heartfelt and engaging piece of storytelling that unflinchingly explores the 20th century American experience in all its honour and ignominy. This is, without doubt, Auster's magnum opus. . . . A true revelation . . . one can't help but admit they are in the presence of a genius." -Toronto Star
"Auster's narrative is never anything less than stylistically assured, his humour and humanity perfectly balanced." --Independent on Sunday
"Ambitious and sprawling." --USA Today
"It's tempting to think about how our lives might have turned out if we had made different decisions, or if fate had dealt us a different hand. With this brilliantly rendered, intricately plotted epic, Auster has indulged that temptation and turned it into a magnum opus." --Columbia Magazine
"Auster adds a significant and immersive entry to a genre that stretches back centuries and includes Augie March and Tristram Shandy." --Publishers Weekly
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