A Note on AbbreviatioIntroductionChapter One Major Quests in Paul Auster's Poetic World Ⅰ. The Quest for Father Ⅱ. The Quest for Redemption and Rebirth Ⅲ. The Image of Room: Duality of SolitudeChapter Two The Quest for Freedom in The Music of Chance Ⅰ. Freedom and Power of Subjection Ⅱ. The Quest for Freedom on the Road Ⅲ. Freedom under Power ControlChapter Three The Quests for Knowledge and Identity Ⅰ. The Quest for Knowledge in The New York Trilogy Ⅱ. The Quest for Self and Identity Ⅲ. Historical Identity and Identity Cotructed in RelatiohipsChapter Four The Anti-Genre Narrative Mode of Paul Auster's Quests Ⅰ. Postmodernist Mixture of Biography and Autobiography in TheInvention of Solitude Ⅱ. A Metaphysical Detective Fiction: The New York Trilogy- Ⅲ. The Anti-Genre Narrative in The Music of Chance and In theCountry of Last Things Ⅳ. Reflectio on Auster's Writing: The Quest for MeaningConclusionWorks Cited附录一保罗·奥斯特生平大事记附录二作者科研成果一览表一附录三 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》后记