Man in the Dark

A novel exploring war in an alternate post–9/11 America “is an undoubted pleasure to read. Auster really does possess the wand of the enchanter” (Michael Dirda, The New York Review of Books)

From Paul Auster, a “literary original” (Wall Street Journal) comes a novel that forces us to confront the blackness of night even as it celebrates the existence of ordinary joys in a world capable of the most grotesque violence.

Seventy-two-year-old August Brill is recovering from a car accident at his daughter’s house in Vermont. When sleep refuses to come, he lies in bed and tells himself stories, struggling to push back thoughts about things he would prefer to forget: his wife’s recent death and the horrific murder of his granddaughter’s boyfriend, Titus. The retired book critic imagines a parallel world in which America is not at war with Iraq but with itself. In this other America the twin towers did not fall and the 2000 election results led to secession, as state after state pulled away from the union and a bloody civil war ensued.

As the night progresses, Brill’s story grows increasingly intense, and what he is desperately trying to avoid insists on being told.

A Washington Post Best Book of the Year

“Absorbing.” —The New Yorker

“Probably Auster’s best novel.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Astute and mesmerizing.” —Booklist, starred review

“Auster’s book leaves one with a depth of feeling much larger than might be expected from such a small and concise work of art.” —San Francisco Chronicle

“[Auster is] a master of voice, an avuncular confidence man who can spin dark stories out of air.” —Entertainment Weekly