”Baumgartner”, by Paul Auster

This short novel starts with a funny, fast couple of chapters on the life of Sy Baumgartner and the practical challenges of continuing into later life after the loss of his wife. The latter half of the book is a more introspective exploration of the literary careers of Baumgartner and his wife, his dalliances with a younger lover, a diversion to Ukraine, and the sudden appearance of a magnetic graduate student. The book isn’t long enough to sustain or resolve each of these separate threads, but what’s there is weaved together masterfully.