Brooklyn (and other) follies

In some other blog article I mentioned that Paul Auster's Red Notebook is full of strange coincidences. Auster's latest book combines stunning coincidences with plausible and interesting characters. Say, there's a talented scholar who cannot finish his doctoral thesis and ends up in a bookstore in Brooklyn. The owner of the bookstore is X, the uncle of the scholar is Y, they meet a jewellery maker Z etc. Umm.. that's of course how we meet people in real life but Auster has a great gift to make the stories really interesting.

The scholar tells his uncle an interesting story about Kafka, among other things. Kafka apparently wrote a series of letters from a doll to a girl who had lost one.

Is there something that could be added? In a rather different kind of book, "Home at the End of the World" by Michael Cunningham, the main character adapts in many different environments. His girl friend at one point asks him "is there any place where you could not be?" and answers herself "yes.. a place without people. You need people."

Are there books about coincidences and adaptation with a main character that would rather not meet people? Maybe Kundera's Immortality.