---
product_id: 125417013
title: "4 3 2 1: A Novel"
brand: "paul auster"
price: "KSh4342"
currency: KES
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 8
url: https://www.desertcart.co.ke/products/125417013-4-3-2-1-a-novel
store_origin: KE
region: Kenya
---

# 4 3 2 1: A Novel

**Brand:** paul auster
**Price:** KSh4342
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** 4 3 2 1: A Novel by paul auster
- **How much does it cost?** KSh4342 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.co.ke](https://www.desertcart.co.ke/products/125417013-4-3-2-1-a-novel)

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- paul auster enthusiasts

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## Description

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## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Failed To Capture My Imagination
  

*by S***Y on Reviewed in the United States on November 28, 2016*

Let's establish right away that Paul Auster is one of my favorite authors.  In fact, I'd consider myself something of a "fanboy."  I've read the vast majority of his published work after discovering him about ten years ago.  He earned my trust back then, which means I will read anything he releases.  Anything.4 3 2 1 is an ambitious work that absolutely experiments with style and execution.  It is extremely well written, meticulously organized, and clearly a labor of love.  This is an important novel due to its sheer moxie; it not only challenges well-established conventions in the field of literature, it summarily ignores them.But, even with all of that being said, it missed the mark for me.  At 866 pages, 4 3 2 1 proved too much for this reader.  As you know, Auster is an avid baseball fan, and I definitely felt like I needed a scorecard for this epic volume.Without spoiling too much, this novel imagines the four possible lives of a single man.  We follow him from boyhood all the way to death.  There are many touchstones that are obviously invariable from life to life, but there are also several deviations that alter one life drastically from another.  It's a fascinating premise, one that we've all thought about from time to time.  What if my parents had separated?  What if I'd chosen a different school?  What if I had fallen into that pit and been paralyzed?  So many "what ifs" in life ... Auster delves deeply into this notion while leaving no detail unexplored.But, like Annie Proulx's Barkskins, those nuanced details can overwhelm the reader to the point of provoking disengagement. At least, that's what happened in my case.Furthermore, if I'm being honest, Ferguson (the main character) is not especially interesting.  No matter which life we address, Ferguson is a bit aloof, a bit too precocious, a bit unlikable.  Well, perhaps "unlikable" is too strong of a word.  I would never describe him as "likable," though.  Keep in mind, I don't believe a character has to be "good" in the moral sense to be "likable."  There have been plenty of "bad" characters that I thought were incredibly charismatic.On the subject of morality, be warned ... there is a lot of sex in this book -- more than any Paul Auster book I've ever read.  There is straight sex, gay sex, committed sex, casual sex, oral sex, anal sex ... you get the idea.  The sex often seemed to me as forced.  It never quite struck me as organic to the story.While I found this to be a relevant addition to the author's library because it broke new ground for an already inventive artist, it did not hold my attention.  While the writing is masterful, it failed to capture my imagination.  And while the characters are pounding with life, none of them seemed to take hold in my own.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    A very well written book, but also very political
  

*by G***N on Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2018*

From literature point of view this is a magnificent book. It’s an art. I felt a total immersion, as if I was living there and then and inside the skin of the character. Auster is a master of the word.His literary, cinema and music recommendations given as part of character’s education can serve as an education for the reader as well.All this deserves the undisputed 5 stars.But there are negative aspects as well that cannot be overlooked in my subjective opinion.The father of the 4th Archie Ferguson casts a disjointed figure. He starts as a decent hard working person. Although he makes a distant and cold father, no one could blame Stanley for lack of integrity. Nevertheless, following a divorce with Archie’s mom, Stanley is suddenly shown a dishonorable person, a man who would hurt his son in order to make a point to his mother. This character is so at odds with otherwise harmonious description of other characters that it seems that it (the character) was too good for author’s taste and had to be corrected (in a bad way) to fit the narrative.And here we come to a second negative aspect.This book is too politicized. It’s a mirror reflection of today’s America. It’s too black and white and sorrowly  lacking the gray. If you are suburban, you are a republican, a racist/bigot, a bad person. If you are a city dweller, you are a democrat, a liberal, a good person. A businessman is, by definition, a bad person, since he makes money in order to make even more money.I would expect more sophistication from such a talented author. Regardless of one’s leanings, left or right, life is a complex mess, it’s certainly not black and white.

### ⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Started off loving it, Auster burned me out
  

*by E***L on Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2019*

This novel has many merits, I was very intrigued and engaged with it for the first 400 pages or so, without question Auster is a highly skilled writer and story teller, he’s got excellent communicative powers, no doubt.  The problem is the book just won’t end!  It’s a clever device here, he tells four (I think, it gets confusing) parallel life stories of the same character with small or not so small alterations in life circumstances, all of which are possible with a simple twist of fate, a death here, a fire there, so on.  It’s pretty intriguing and philosophically represents the unknown “superposition” of our lives as they unfold, so this was all really strong stuff for a novel. He also presents the late 50’s early 60’s period well, and childhood, and human relationships, yes, all well done. But here I am on page 570, I’ve got like 250 pages more to go, and I’ve run out of gas.  This is a bummer since I invested so much time to this book, but Archie, the main character, is still muddling through his first years of college, and I’m just loosing interest. Like I just want the  mafia to come in a shoot everyone so we can end the story with a bang already.  And so Archie and (some girl, or guy; yes, he’s bi) get married and...... Archie stays at home and does his pretty face, ob la ob la di life goes on hah, oh la la how life goes on, done.  Paul. You forgot about the reader. You got swallowed up in your own writing.  Almost a great book, but not.

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*Product available on Desertcart Kenya*
*Store origin: KE*
*Last updated: 2026-02-19*