Paul Auster’s “The New York Trilogy”: City of Glass, Ghosts, The Locked Room

Karasik (How To Read Nancy) is joined by two exemplary illustrators in this adaptation of the three interlinked metafictional mystery novels that make up the late Auster’s (1947–2024) celebrated “New York Trilogy.” In City of Glass, Karasik and David Mazzucchelli (Asterios Polyp) team to tell the story of Quinn, a reclusive writer who, after being mistaken for a private detective, is drawn into a mystery that threatens his grip on reality. Mazzuchelli’s skillful illustration, favoring geometric compositions and surreal imagery, powerfully evoke Quinn’s isolation and steadily unraveling psyche throughout. Illustrator Lorenzo Mattotti’s (Garlandia) textured, painterly pencil line and bold contrasting of light and shadow lend an eerie intimacy to Ghosts, the story of a private investigator named Blue who is hired by a man named White to tail and surveil an enigmatic man named Black. Karasik serves as author and illustrator for The Locked Room. Here, an unnamed writer tasked with managing the unpublished manuscripts of a man named Fanshawe, after his sudden disappearance, becomes equal parts envious and contemplative about the nature of creation and authorship.