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It is something of the measure of Auster's talent that he manages to spin out the fairly mundane lives of his four Archie Fergusons into a mostly engaging and satisfying 800 odd pages. It is not without its longueurs, at about half way I was wondering if I'd make it through to the end but things pick up again. At times it felt every bit like the big book it is but not too often. The Fergusons are good companions in all their versions, bookish, a bit pompous and self-obsessed but likeable. Nothing very much happens, each Ferguson undergoes the kinds of small triumphs and disasters that beset most of our lives but none the worse for that.