Paul Auster

American novelist, poet, essayist, screenwriter (1947-2024) · United States · Writers · Died at 77

Paul Auster is read about 1,338 times a day, in 60 languages.

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Paul Auster built labyrinths on the page - novels where identities blur, coincidence stacks into fate, and New York becomes a city of doubles and disappearances. His fiction turned the detective story inside out, making the search itself the subject.

Writers Writer / Author Screenwriting Television Fiction Poetry Stand Up Literature

A life in dates

2024Died30 April 20242008“For only the good doubt their own goodness, which is what makes them good in the first place. The bad know they are good, but the good know nothing.”In their wordsMan In The Dark, New York: Henry Holt and Company, p. 63.Read the whole statement

2007Commandeur des Arts et des LettresAwardHonorary doctor of the University of LiègeAward2006Princess of Asturias Literary PrizeAward2003“Every time my nose gushed blood, I felt like a little boy who'd wet his pants.”In their wordsOracle Night, New York: Henry Holt and Company, pp. 41-42.Read the whole statement

2002“Men don't begin to live fully until their backs are against the wall.”In their wordsThe Book of Illusions (2002)Read the whole statement

“That's what makes his story so impossible, David. Because he's told me the truth. (Alma to David on Hector)”In their wordsThe Book of Illusions (2002)Read the whole statement

“I didn't say I was afraid of dying, I answered, I said that I was afraid to get on a plane. There is a difference. (David to Dr. Singh)”In their wordsThe Book of Illusions (2002)Read the whole statement

1994Lucien Barrière Literary AwardAward1993Prix Médicis étrangerAward1991PEN/Faulkner Award for FictionAward1947Born3 February 1947

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

Paul Auster BBF 2010 Shankbone

Amos Oz and Paul Auster

Amos Oz, Paul Auster, Salman Rushdie and Shimon Peres by David Shankbone (2886059240)

Amos Oz, Paul Auster, Salman Rushdie, Shimon Peres and Asaf Shariv (2885288345)

Edwidge Danticat and Paul Auster (8024218253)

Joumana Haddad and Paul Auster

Nily Oz, David Shankbone, Amos Oz, Paul Auster and Karen Gantz Zahler (2885282853)

Paul Auster and Pete Hamill reading from his upcoming book The Christmas Kid (8024220332)

In their own words 9

Paul Auster

9 statements, newest first

For only the good doubt their own goodness, which is what makes them good in the first place. The bad know they are good, but the good know nothing.
2008, Man In The Dark, New York: Henry Holt and Company, p. 63., Own words
Every time my nose gushed blood, I felt like a little boy who'd wet his pants.
2003, Oracle Night, New York: Henry Holt and Company, pp. 41-42., Own words
Governments always need enemies, even when they're not at war. If you don't have a real enemy, you make one up and spread the word.
2003, Oracle Night, New York: Henry Holt and Company, p. 168., Own words

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Awards

Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres2007

Honorary doctor of the University of Liège2007

Princess of Asturias Literary Prize2006

Lucien Barrière Literary Award1994

Prix Médicis étranger1993

PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction1991

Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Honorary Doctorate of the University of Copenhagen

Family

Paul Auster

Partners

Child Sophie Auster

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About this person

Born February 3, 1947, Auster emerged as a poet and memoirist before the publication of The New York Trilogy in 1987 recast him as a architect of postmodern puzzles. Moon Palace followed in 1989, then The Music of Chance in 1990, each deepening his signature blend of chance and control. The Book of Illusions arrived in 2002, The Brooklyn Follies in 2005, Invisible in 2009, Sunset Park in 2010. Winter Journal in 2012 turned inward, a memoir of the body and its history. His sprawling 4 3 2 1 landed in 2017, four versions of one life branching from the same root. Translated into more than 40 languages, his work traveled far from its Brooklyn origine. He died April 30, 2024.

Country

United States

In common with Paul

Jared HarrisAlso in Smoke (1995)Chris PennAlso in The Music of Chance (1993)

Mira SorvinoAlso in Lulu on the Bridge (1998)

Balthazar GettyAlso in The Center of the World (2001)

RuPaulAlso in Blue in the Face (1995)

Writers from the United States 1

E. B. White61.0

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