Nathan Glass, a sixty-year-old life insurance salesman in remission from lung cancer, retreats to Brooklyn to wait for death. His solitary life shifts when he encounters his nephew, Tom Wood, a former academic now working at a secondhand bookstore run by a charismatic ex-convict named Harry Brightman. The narrative follows Nathan as he compiles The Book of Human Folly, a collection of accounts detailing minor mistakes and accidental embarrassments. Instead of succumbing to isolation, Nathan becomes entangled in a series of suburban escapades involving missing children, forged manuscripts, and a quest for a utopian sanctuary called The Hotel Existence.
Readers interested in the intersections of urban coincidence and the construction of chosen families will find a blueprint for late-life renewal here. The book appeals to those who enjoy intricate, character-driven fiction where small personal choices ripple into larger domestic dramas. A reader walks away with a detailed portrait of Brooklyn life specifically tailored to the months leading up to the September 11 attacks. It provides a concrete look at how individuals navigate failed ambitions and health crises by forging unexpected social bonds within a specific neighborhood landscape.
- Published
- 2005
- Language
- EN
