About this title: A detective-story writer named Quinn becomes involved in a bizarre case. A phone call from a man who believes someone is trying to kill him leads to a case more mysterious than anything Quinn could concoct. In this tale of strange reversals and shifts of identity, a character named "Paul Auster" makes an appearance as a man obsessed with Quinn's story.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Picador
Date Published: 2004-08-01
ISBN-13:9780312423605ISBN:0312423608
Description: Very good. Very minimal damage to the cover (no holes or tears, only minimal scuff marks), in some instances dust jackets are not included, no missing pages, minimal to no highlighting/under. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Picador
Date Published: 2004-08-01
ISBN-13:9780312423605ISBN:0312423608
Description: Like New. May be shiny, in some instances dust jackets are not included, no missing pages, no damage to binding, may have a remainder mark. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Picador USA
Date Published: 2004-07-01
ISBN-13:9780312423605ISBN:0312423608
Description: NEW. Softcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780312423605. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Picador
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780312423605ISBN:0312423608
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Edition: Later printing.
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Picador, New York
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780312423605ISBN:0312423608
Description: Fine original paperback. Signed by Paul Auster and David Mazzucchelli on the full title page. Adaptation by Paul Karasik and David Mazzucchelli with introduction by Art Spiegelman. read more
Edition: Reprint
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: PICADOR
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780312423605ISBN:0312423608
Description: New. A mystery writer assumes a detective's identity and embarks on a bizzare case: he must protect a man from his criminally insane father, and as he follows the elusive criminal, he embarks on a mission that takes him to the depths of his own soul. read more
"I'm not exactly sure why anyone felt the need to turn Paul Auster's brilliant novella (which is part of "The New York Trilogy") into a graphic novel. The artwork is pretty great, but much of the nuance of the original is missing, since names and the act of writing play such important parts in the story.
If anything, this should convince you to go out and read the original."
"Auster's first novel proves exponentially more risky and rewarding than almost anything he's written since. A tightly-wound postmodern detective story, its subject is language itself.
In short, a wrong number leads to writer Daniel Quinn taking on a case as a private eye. The subject of his investigation is a doddering old man who has threatened to kill his son. The old man, Peter Stillman, Sr., is a philosopher, and impresses Quinn to the point where he gets overly subsumed in the case.
Whether or not the mystery is "solved" depends on the generosity of the reader, as Auster, a constructionist despite his postmodern tendencies, allows too many plot point unanswered, and requires a little too much suspension of disbelief. Also, many of all the principal characters are writers, half are independently wealthy, and many names are too cute. These are some of Auster's bad habits that he practices in nearly all his books.
But this isn't completely an Auster book: this version is a graphic novel--an adaptation brought about thanks to Art Spiegelman, and drawn and edited by Paul Karasik, with David Mazzuchelli. The graphic artists give it so much dimension that the text-only version seems (in my memory) to be no more than a screenplay to this version's fully-realized presentation. (It was named one of the 100 best graphic novels of the 20th century by Comics Journal.)
Karasik's drawing of a key monologue between Peter Stillman (Jr.) and Quinn is breathtaking. In it, his drawings are loosed from the literal dialogue, instead following the sound of the characters voice (a central issue to the plot). Karasik takes the same approach in a key scene in a diner; later in the novel with some images of destitute people (shown at ant-size, about to get crushed by a foot). For some scenes of walking in the city, Karasik provides some gorgeous illustrations with no dialogue at all.
My favorite frame is one of Quinn following the elder Stillman through the city. Both are scribbling in their notebooks. It's a key image, and one which communicates a lot of Auster's drama with an economy of space--itself an Auster-ian trait.
There's more: at an apartment buzzer, a random resident is named "Mark Polo." Again, very Auster, but probably a detail supplied by Karasik or Mazzuchelli. At a certain point, the investigator Quinn visits the real Paul Auster. The author is drawn true-to-life, which gives this little plot trick some added richness.
Auster has always been a novelist of ideas, but the graphic novelists in this case help make this novel stronger by editing the text down and offering so much rich context with the images. Ironically, this provides an answer to Auster's query in the novel about the power and ultimate limits of language.
*
WHY I READ THIS BOOK: THE CITY OF GLASS is the first Auster book I read; I'd eventually read all his novels (except his most recent MAN IN THE DARK), his published poetry, and most of his essays. He used to be my favorite writer, but it has been a while since I felt the kind of excitement from an Auster book (probably since 2002's THE RED NOTEBOOK). This doesn't really qualify as new book from Auster (not least because it was first published in 1994), but I'll take it.
I was prompted to pick it up because (a) I read a review in the New York times of MAN IN THE DARK, then (b) in the bookstore was a copy of Knut Hamsun's HUNGER, for which Auster had written the intro. (I had read Hamsun long ago, precisely because of that glittering intro.) I already had a couple other books, so I kept browsing, until (c) at the "Auster" section of the shelves, I saw the graphic novel version of CITY OF GLASS. (d) I remembered that I had bought that book at a used book store some time back, and when I got home I put aside the three books I was currently reading to take up CITY OF GLASS."
"I'm at a loss for how to describe this books and its story, which is why I felt the need to create a "weird" tag. It's part mystery, part visual experiment, part playing with language...it's not a straightforward anything. But it is a book you will want to read several times to catch all the subtleties in the art and language."
"Good artwork. Compelling, mind-bending story. Maybe a little talky for the graphic form. And maybe over-simplified from the original. I will find out when I read the original."
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