By QUIGLEY, Sarah It is a truth universally acknowledged that the person you sit next to at dinner can change your life. Jane Austen's heroines knew it: they spent half their lives ironing their lace and sharpening their wits to captivate whichever man might sit next to them, sipping on soup.

By DOUGLAS KENNEDY MAN IN THE DARK By Paul Auster FABER Pounds 14.99 (180pp) Pounds 13.49 (free p&p) from 0870 079 8897 "I'm happiest in a movie, even a bad movie".

By Chauncey Mabe; South Florida Sun-Sentinel Already known for his narrative audacity, Paul Auster makes a choice in "Man in the Dark" so rare that it might be unprecedented: He chooses a book reviewer as his protagonist -- and not for the purpose of tormenting, spoofing, belittling or mocking the poor man.

By Merlob, Maya ABSTRACT: The author explores the spatialization of textuality that characterizes the postmodern narrative.