William Forrester

Forrester is introduced into the story as a character Jamal and his high school friends call “the window” because he never appears outside, but only at his window with binoculars to watch the happenings of his ghetto neighborhood below. He is a grumpy old man who lives alone and seems to be agoraphobic.

He wrote the great American novel Avalon Landing in the mid 1950’s and never wrote another novel, and has since resided in solitude an apartment. He spends his days reading his vast collection of books, drinking and watching the neighborhood boys play basketball on the court across the street from his apartment.

Forrester’s quiet, ordinary life is unexpectedly interrupted when Jamal, a brilliant 16 year old basketball player, plays a prank on “the window” and accidentally leaves his backpack in the man’s apartment. When he gets it back, he discovers that “the window” has made notes in all of his journals where he writes his stories in secret.Forrester agrees to help Jamal in his writing provided he asks no questions of Forrester’s private life. Jamal agrees, and the two begin to form a bond.