The New York Trilogy is a series of novels or long stories by Paul Auster. Originally published sequentially as City of Glass (1985), Ghosts (1986) and The Locked Room (1986), it has since also been collected into a single volume. Paul Benjamin Auster (born February 3, 1947, Newark, New Jersey) is a Brooklyn-based author. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Detective fiction is a branch of crime fiction that centres upon the investigation of a crime, usually murder, by a detective, either professional or amateur. ... Faber and Faber is a celebrated publishing house in the UK, notable in particular for publishing the poetry of T. S. Eliot. ... A hardcover (or hardback or hardbound) book is bound with rigid protective covers (typically of cardboard covered with cloth or heavy paper) and a stitched spine. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... A novel (from French nouvelle Italian novella, new) is an extended, generally fictional narrative, typically in prose. ... Paul Benjamin Auster (born February 3, 1947, Newark, New Jersey) is a Brooklyn-based author. ... 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Plot introduction

Ostensibly presented as detective fiction, the stories of The New York Trilogy have been described as "meta-detective-fiction"; "anti-detective fiction"; "mysteries about mysteries"; a "strangely humorous working of the detective novel"; "very soft-boiled"; a "metamystery"; "glassy little jigsaws"; a "mixture between the detective story and the nouveau roman". This classifies Paul Auster as a postmodern writer whose writings have been influenced by the 'classical literary movement' of American postmodernism through the 60s and 70s. However, there are "a certain coherence in the narrative discourse, a neo-realistic approach and showing a responsibility for social and moral aspects going beyond mere metafictional and subversive elements", which distinguish him from a 'traditional' postmodern writer. The New York Trilogy is a particular form of postmodern detective fiction which still uses well-known elements of the detective novel (e.g. the classical and the hard-boiled detective novel), but also creates a new form that links "the traditional features of the genre with the experimental, metafictional and ironic features of postmodernism". Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes Detective fiction is a branch of crime fiction that centers upon the investigation of a crime, usually murder, by a detective, either professional or amateur. ... Nouveau roman refers to certain 1950s French novels that diverged from classical literary genres. ... Postmodernity (also called post-modernity or the postmodern condition) is a term used by philosophers, social scientists, art critics and social critics to refer to aspects of contemporary art, culture, economics and social conditions that are the result of the unique features of late 20th century and early 21st century... The 1960s decade refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ... Template:A year The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive. ... Look up metafiction in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

A 2006 reissue by Penguin Books is fronted by new pulp magazine-style covers by comic book illustrator Art Spiegelman. Penguin Books is a British publisher founded in 1935 by Allen Lane. ... Flynns Detective Fiction from 1941. ... Art Spiegelman (born February 15, 1948) is an American comics artist, editor, and advocate for the medium of comics, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning comic memoir, Maus. ...

Plot summary

The first story, City of Glass, features a writer turned private detective descending into madness. It explores layers of identity and reality: Paul Auster the writer of the novel; "the author" who reports the events as reality; "Paul Auster the writer", a character in the story; "Paul Auster the detective", who may or may not exist in the novel; Daniel Quinn, initials. The term writer can apply to anyone who creates a written work, but the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. ... A private investigator, or PI, is a person who undertakes investigations. ...

The second story, Ghosts, is about a private eye called Blue who is investigating a man named Black for a client named White. Black and White turn out to be the same person, a writer who is writing a story about Blue watching him.

The Locked Room is the story of a writer who lacks the creativity to produce fiction. His childhood friend has produced creative work, and when he disappears the writer publishes his work and replaces him in his family. While trying to deal with their relationship, he discovers his creative gift, and it emerges that he is the author of the three stories of the trilogy. The title is a reference to a "locked room mystery", a popular form of early detective fiction. A locked room mystery is a sub-genre of detective fiction wherein a murder or other crime is apparently committed under impossible circumstances: no one could have entered or left the scene of the crime, and the death involved could not have been a suicide. ...

Adaptations

City of Glass was adapted in 1994 into a critically acclaimed experimental graphic novel by Paul Karasik and David Mazzucchelli, which was subsequently published as City of Glass: The Graphic Novel in 2004. 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by United Nations. ... Trade paperback of Will Eisners A Contract with God (1978), often mistakenly cited as the first graphic novel. ... Dave Mazzucchelli is a comic book artist. ...

Allusions/references from other works

City of Glass is referenced in the 2001 video game Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, which contains a character named Peter Stillman; the reference has been further confirmed by the game's early design documentation, that revealed other characters named after Quinn and his aliases, which were not included in the final version of the game. The references are thematically appropriate, as the game also exploited metafictional issues in questioning the relationship between the player of a video game and the protagonist of the game itself. It has been suggested that Multiplayer game be merged into this article or section. ... Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (commonly abbreviated MGS2) is a stealth-based game that was developed and published by Konami for the PlayStation 2 in 2001. ... This is a list of fictional characters appearing in the video game Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. ... Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (commonly abbreviated MGS2) is a stealth-based game that was developed and published by Konami for the PlayStation 2 in 2001. ... Look up metafiction in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

See also

• Paul Auster
• Doppelgänger

Paul Benjamin Auster (born February 3, 1947, Newark, New Jersey) is a Brooklyn-based author. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

External links

• Links to discussion of the work
• Paul Auster's "The New York Trilogy" as Postmodern Detective Fiction