Who is Paul Auster?
He was born in 1947 in Newark, New Jersey, USA. When he was only 12 years old, he became interested in literature by reading the books of his uncle, an important translator.
After studying French, English, and Italian literature at Columbia University, he lived in France for four years and translated French authors. He compiled an important anthology of 20th-century French poetry. He first attracted great attention in 1987 with his work titled New York Trilogy.
Life story
Paul Auster was born in America on February 3, 1947, as the son of Queenie Auster and Samuel Auster. When her mother, Queenie, realized that she had made the wrong marriage, it was too late because she became pregnant with Paul Auster. Therefore, he could not divorce his wife. When Auster was three and a half years old, his sister was born. His brother became psychologically ill in his old age.
His father bought a house in the most prestigious district of the city in 1959. Auster settled here with his family. Later, his family noticed Auster's interest in literature. The biggest factor in this was Paul Auster's uncle, Allen Mandelbaum. His uncle was a talented translator and left the hundreds of books he translated to the Auster family before leaving for his trip to Europe. Paul Auster was introduced to literature thanks to these books. Paul Auster started writing poems at an early age, and his closeness with his uncle was very influential in Auster's development as a writer.
Paul Benjamin Auster (born February 3, 1947) is an American writer and film director. His notable works include The New York Trilogy (1987), Moon Palace (1989), The Music of Chance (1990), The Book of Illusions (2002), The Brooklyn Follies (2005), Invisible (2009), Sunset Park (2010), Winter Journal (2012), and 4 3 2 1 (2017). His books have been translated into more than forty languages.
Paul Auster received his high school education at Maplewood and after completing it, he traveled to many European countries. His admiration for James Joyce caused him to go to Dublin, Ireland. After his trip to Europe, he returned to America and enrolled at Columbia University. In 1967, the school decided to continue his education in Paris and he was sent to France. Paul Auster left his education in Paris and left the university because he was bored with the conditions of the school. Later, he started living in a small hotel in Rue Clement, and at the request of his instructor in America, he restarted his education at Columbia University.
He graduated in 1970 and moved to France immediately after graduation. He earned his living by translating important works of French literature into English. Paul Auster returned to America in 1974 and in the same year, he married his colleague Lydia Davis, who was also a writer. The married couple earned money by translating books.
During the same period, Auster began working as a literary critic in many national newspapers such as the New York Review of Books, Commentary, and Harper's. He also had his personal novels, poems, and essays published. He translated the works of famous names of French literature such as Jean-Paul Sartre, Stéphane Mallarmé, and Joseph Joubert, and had them published in America.
His son Daniel Auster was born in 1977. Auster had many family problems at that time. A marriage that didn't work out, a newborn son, low income, a financially and morally problematic period. He lost his father on January 14, 1979. Auster's marriage ended and he was left alone. But thanks to the inheritance he inherited from his father, he devoted himself to writing. In a statement he made to McCaffery and Gregory about that period, he said: "For the first time in my life, I have been able to find so much time to write without worrying about rent and other problems."
He got married for the second time in 1981, with his Norwegian colleague Siri Hustvedt. The second child of this marriage, Sophie Auster, was born.
Auster became an associate professor at Princeton University in 1986. He continued his academic career until 1990.
Auster, who published an important anthology on twentieth-century French poetry, wrote his first novel, "The Discovery of Solitude", about his father, Samuel Auster, in 1982.
He was nominated for the PEN/Faulkner award with his novel "The Music Of Chance", which he published in 1990, and the book attracted the attention of many people in the cinema industry.
In 1995, he wrote the script for the movie "Smoke" starring Harvey Keitel. Auster also made his directorial debut in this film. This was his first step into directing, and after 1995 he made many films as a screenwriter and director.
In 2006, he received the Prince of Asturias award, which was previously given to Günter Grass, Arthur Miller, and Mario Vargas Llosa.
Paul Auster Novels
The New York Trilogy (1987)
City of Glass (1985)
Ghosts (1986)
The Locked Room (1986)
In the Country of Last Things (1987)
Moon Palace (1989)
The Music of Chance (1990)
Leviathan (1992)
Auggie Wren's Christmas Story (1992)
Mr. Vertigo (1994)
Timbuktu (1999)
The Book of Illusions (2002)
Oracle Night (2004)
The Brooklyn Follies (2005)
Travels in the Scriptorium (2006)