Celebrated and experimental author Paul Auster dies at 77

The literary world mourns the loss of celebrated and experimental author Paul Auster, who passed away at the age of 77. Auster was known for his unique storytelling style, blending elements of mystery, existentialism, and postmodernism in his works. His novels often explored themes of identity, fate, and the human experience, captivating readers with their intricate plots and thought-provoking narratives.

Auster's passing marks the end of an era in contemporary literature, as he leaves behind a legacy of groundbreaking novels that have inspired generations of writers and readers alike. His work challenged traditional literary conventions and pushed the boundaries of what fiction could achieve.

Starting in the 1970s, Auster completed more than 30 books, translated into dozens of languages. A longtime fixture in the Brooklyn literary scene, he never achieved major commercial success in the U.S., but was widely admired overseas for his cosmopolitan worldview and erudite and introspective style. He was named a chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government in 1991. He was also shortlisted for the Booker Prize and voted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Called the “dean of American post-modernists” and “the most meta of American meta-fictional writers,” Auster blended history, politics, genre experiments, existential quests and self-conscious references to writers and writing. “The New York Trilogy,” which included “City of Glass,” “Ghosts” and “The Locked Room,” was a postmodern detective saga in which names and identities blur and one protagonist is a private eye named Paul Auster. The brief “Travels in the Scriptorium” wraps a story inside a story as a political prisoner finds himself compelled to read a series of narratives by fellow victims that will eventually include his own.

Born in Newark, New Jersey, Paul Benjamin Auster grew up in a middle-class, Jewish home torn between his father’s thrift, to the point of miserliness, and his mother’s urge to spend, to the point of recklessness. He would soon feel like an outsider in his family, soured by their materialism and more inspired by James Joyce’s “Ulysses” or the tales of Edgar Allan Poe than by the security of a traditional job.

His ideals would be well tested. After graduating from Columbia University, Auster struggled for years before he was able to find a publisher or earn money from his books. He wrote poetry, translated French literature, worked on an oil tanker, attempted to market a baseball board game and even thought of earning income by growing worms in his basement.

As we reflect on Auster's life and career, we are reminded of the power of storytelling to connect us all as human beings. Though he may be gone, his words will live on in the hearts and minds of those who have been touched by his work. Rest in peace, Paul Auster.

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Sarah H

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