Introduction 1
Chapter One Major Quests in Paul Auster's Poetic World 22
Ⅰ．The Quest for Father 25
Ⅱ．The Quest for Redemption and Rebirth 34
Ⅲ．The Image of Room:Duality of Solitude 46
Chapter Two The Quest for Freedom in The Music of Chance 53
Ⅰ．Freedom and Power of Subjection 55
Ⅱ．The Quest for Freedom on the Road 63
Ⅲ．Freedom under Power Control 80
Chapter Three The Quests for Knowledge and Identity 93
Ⅰ．The Quest for Knowledge in The New York Trilogy 96
Ⅱ．The Quest for Self and Identity 111
Ⅲ．Historical Identity and Identity Constructed in Relationships 123
Chapter Four The Anti-Genre Narrative Mode of Paul Auster's Quests 128
Ⅰ．Postmodernist Mixture of Biography and Autobiography in The Invention of Solitude 129
Ⅱ．A Metaphysical Detective Fiction:The New York Trilogy 137
Ⅲ．The Anti-Genre Narrative in The Music of Chance and In the Country of Last Things 153
Ⅳ．Reflections on Auster's Writing:The Quest for Meaning 158
Conclusion 163
Works Cited 170
附录一 保罗·奥斯特生平大事记 178
附录二 作者科研成果一览表 180
附录三 略论玄学侦探小说的基本特征——评保罗·奥斯特的《纽约三部曲》 182
后记 191