Archibald Isaac Ferguson

Archie Ferguson is the protagonist of the novel. The narration simply refers to him as Ferguson. The novel follows four alternate timelines of Ferguson’s life. Like Paul Auster, Ferguson is born in 1947; many of the events of Ferguson’s lives are taken from or inspired by events in Auster’s life. As a child, Ferguson lives in the suburbs of New Jersey with his mother Rose and his father Stanley. His parents’ socioeconomic status differs in each timeline. In timeline number one, his family has a modest income. Much of his time as a teenager is preoccupied with his relationship with Amy Schneiderman. Amy enrolls in Barnard College, and Ferguson enrolls in Columbia University. He decides to join the student newspaper, as he enjoyed briefly working as a reporter for a small newspaper in New Jersey before leaving for college. Amy eventually breaks up with...