(B1) Brooklyn Follies

Paul Auster. the main character is someone in remission from cancer living in brooklyn. his nephew tom works for a book store manager, who spent time in prison for an art scam. the narrator's great niece shows up and unable to figure out what to do with her, they decide to ship her to a cousin in vermont. the kid is smart enough to pour coke into the engine to stall out the car. they stay for a few nights in an inn in vermont where tom falls in love with a pushy fat teacher. they return to brooklyn, where the book store manager was working on another scam this time having to do with old books and when he finds out that the scam was on him he drops dead, but he leaves his bookstore to tom and to rufus, a black transvestite who heads back to jamaica after the funeral. the kid, lucy's mother, is found and saved by the narrator from her religious fanatic husband. their preacher is into days of silence and when lucy's mom told lucy, "just tell them I'm okay" lucy takes it literally that she can't tell them anything else and that's why it's so difficult to find the mother.