The Modern Novel

Biography

Anyone who doubts the declining literacy of book reviewers need only consider how the gabbiest of all prose styles is invariably praised as”lean,””spare,” even”minimalist.” I am referring, of course, to the Paul Auster School of Writing. (B R Myers: A Reader’s Manifesto)

Biography

Though totally cool in the United States, Paul Auster is super-cool in Europe, where he is often revered as one of the greatest living United States writers. Why? The fact that he speaks French and has translated several French works, particularly poetry, may help. However, I think that firstly the fact he has written what might be called detective novels might have put off some literary readers, while his overly intellectual approach will have put off others, while attracting him to Europeans who are more ready to accept this approach. Not least, his writing is sparse – I hesitate to use the pun austere – which also is more appreciated in Europe than the United States. However, whatever your nationality, Auster is a very fine writer and one you should definitely read, whatever B R Myers might think.

Paul Auster was born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1947. His father was a landlord. His parents divorced when he was in a high school. He studied English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University and both while at university and after graduating, spent much time in France. After college, he performed a variety of jobs, including working for the Census Bureau and working on an oil tanker. He married the writer Lydia Davis and they had a son David. The marriage did not last long, however. At this time he was translating and writing poetry. However, when his father died in 1979, he inherited some money which enabled him to work on longer, prose works. Back in the USA, he met and married the writer Siri Hustvedt.

His first published work which received critical attention was his memoir of his father, called The Invention of Solitude. However, it was the New York Trilogy, starting with City of Glass, that brought him critical fame. As well as fiction, poetry and essays, Auster has also written screenplays and directed a film. He was considered one of the foremost living United States novelists. He died in 2024.

Books about Paul Auster

Carsten Springer: A Paul Auster Sourcebook

Other links

Stillman’s Maze
Paul Auster
Paul Auster
Paul Auster (1947-)
Featured Author: Paul Auster
Case of the Brooklyn Symbolist
At Home With: Paul Auster; Chance of a Lifetime
I want to tell you a story
Cruel Universe – Adrian Gargett on the writing of Paul Auster
The art of exposure
Reflections on Glass
Paul Auster – My Five Most Important Books
Storytelling In Paul Auster’s Movies
Interview
Interview
Interview
Interview
Interview
Interview
Interview (together with Siri Hustvedt)
Obituary
Obituary
Obituary
Remembering Paul Auster