I wish I could say my exposure to Paul Auster came through some sort of literary network, but that is not correct. I saw the movie Smoke on vhs in 2017 and after being moved to tears by the brilliant ending, as well as Forest Whitaker's performance, I had to know who was behind it. I also around the same time while looking for rare vhs tape (yes I still buy them) found a movie from Harvey Keitel's peak 90's era called Lulu Under The Bridge.I found out after looking into Smoke that Lulu was Auster's one and only film written and directed.I then purchased 4321 wanting to start off with his longest novel which happens to be his latest.I am not going to go into detail about the story line. I will talk about the structure of the book and how it can be used as a mental tool for people who appreciate art. I will also talk about what a twist ending is and the context in which it is presented here and in this knock down any criticism I have seen about the ending.The end result is thoroughly satisfying experience that takes the reader on an experience i can only compare to Nabokov, due to the multilevel way in which the art can be utilized in life.This novel, if read and understood can be a permanent tool, especially for artistic people or people who can think in an abstract way.This book is experimental but is actually written in his most straight forward way. Basically it is written traditionally but veers off course at times to a drastic extent and in a good way, as this veering is the experimental aspect.To begin this book hands down is a big deal. I will focus for a moment of a negative review which being paraphrased went something like calling this book a bad joke. That comment is amazing to me but i can see how the last part of the book could be confusing to someone who does not know how to process an experimental novel that is heavily philosophical and is meant to be pondered on after the book is finished. The reviewer who called it a bad joke seemed to focus on the story without any understanding of how to process a narrative that breaches of into segments that shift in reality.This book reminded me of Ada or Adore by Nabokov in that it has what I call a fail safe mechanism that delivers a multi educational experience that works on multiple levels. What I mean by this is, even if you dislike the characters and what they go through there is a. the historical aspects and b.the unconventional structure. b.the inner love letter to literature, film and music that is spot on.I have read many historical fiction books and this one really felt like it was 50% historical fiction. Auster showcases the socioeconomic climate as being crazy never failing to bypass stereotypical timelines such as 67's summer of love--that was not what was going on in Newark-(Newark is a key setting). There is so much spot on information about the 50's and especially 60's, I really felt like is was living in the chaos of those times. By making the main characters come of age in the mid to late 60's- it makes for a realistic and convincing way to show how insane the climate was with the main themes being 1. draft dodging 2. civil rights 3. authority/students. That is just one lever of this fail safe mechanism I am in the process of defining. The other element of the story other than tons of historical information is the heavy emphasis on art in general mainly concentrating on literature and film with a good amount of music mentioned. There are tons of books and films mentioned that i am happy to say i recognized a lot of them making me feel somewhat cultured.--One element that may throw some people off is yes this novel is very autobiographical in certain ways to Auster's life and it is about an overly brilliant kid. Ferguson is the main character who is depicted in 4 different story but with different inner family changes. In one version of the 4 he is in a privileged family --in another he is in a struggling family--I will not go on to much about the intricacies of the plot line and go back to the multi meaning theme--I want to clear up something- i noticed a lot of the amazon reviewers keep saying it is too long. This is disgustingly subjective and is irrelevant. I personally like a long story any day over a short one--then again i love Victorian novels so maybe i am not a good judge of attention in relation to reading. I feel the length complains are just a commercial reaction in our times. I feel complaints about book length is like complaining about literature in general and showing to the world that you admit tingly have a short attention span.\I will now break down the main criticism of the book being a "bad joke". I feel this remark is unacceptable and it is simply wrong. Iwill also break down the complaint about the constant and descriptive sex scenes. These 2 themes go hand in hand and will contain a major spoiler. I do not like to spoil books but i feel this one is so multi layered it will not really matter. To say the book is a bad joke(like i have read in critical reviews) is to only completely misunderstand the ending which only makes the whole story that much stronger. The constant sex in all of the Ferguson stories is 100% related to the ending and 100% necessary. It was hard for me to read the gay sex scenes and this was the point. Pay attention to the scenes-- they are bluntly described rather than being trashy or for erotic effect.SPOILER-- The end of the book deals with the reader finding out that all of the stories were written by Ferguson the father commenting on his2 dead sons as well as a death of a childhood friend.The graphic sex was Ferguson the writer getting to know his estranged and dead sons by living through the hardest aspects of their differences.The gay scenes were the father trying to understand his son by making him a character.The end result of this novel is the love of literature as a way of life. This book is about artists for artists and the end shows the reader a technique --or the best technique for getting through the hardest moments of life. Ferguson who was writing the book 4321 takes himself on a self reflecting journey as well as a journey to discover his lost family.I am proud of Paul Auster who apparently wrote the 2nd story line to be related to a death he experienced at camp when he was young.To make this work of art even more wild--the Ferguson-dad- who mirrored his sons, the dead friend, the 60's etc--was then mirrored by Auster the actual author.The end result ends up being a totally aesthetically fulfilling experience.I am so surprised any professional reviewer could of completely missed not only say 5 of the meaning of the book but finished it thinking it was a joke or charade of some sort.