Protagonist Quinn is a thirty-five year old novelist living in New York. He lives uneventfully with his wife and son until a bizarre chain of events, catalyzed by a single misdirected phone-call, send his life spiraling away from normality in this engaging novel by Paul Auster.

The book takes you on a mind bending ride as Quinn, after assuming the life of a man who has seemingly vanished off the face of the earth, loses his own identity and plunges deeper and deeper into apparent insanity. He sacrifices his entire life’s work, his family and friends, and his wife, in order to pursue an investigation in vain. Auster is comparable to authors such as Chuck Palahnuik in his manipulation of perceived realities and if you read Fight Club and enjoyed it you will probably feel the same about this book.

This gripping novel is sure to entertain and change the way you understand the world around you. City of Glass is the first of Auster’s “New York Trilogy” which has received a great deal of academic recognition recently. Auster currently resides in New York and has written several other notable books which include Moon Palace, Mr. Vertigo, and Leviathan as well as several poetry collections.