Paul Auster Biography

Paul Auster is an internationally acclaimed author known for his distinct themes of absurdism, identity crisis, and existentialism. His highly praised works, such as ‘The New York Trilogy’ and ‘Moon Palace’, have been translated into over thirty languages. Auster is also a successful editor, poet, screenplay writer, and translator of French authors. He has authored personal memoirs and directed award-winning motion pictures. With his numerous accomplishments, Auster is hailed as one of the most successful and multi-talented individuals in the field of writing. Read on to discover more about his childhood, personal life, and professional achievements in this biography.

Quick Facts

  • Also Known As: Paul Benjamin Auster
  • Age: 76 Years, 76 Year Old Males
  • Family:
    • Spouse/Ex-: Siri Hustvedt (m. 1982), Lydia Davis (m. 1974-1979)
    • Father: Samuel Auster
    • Mother: Queenie Bogat Auster
    • Children: Daniel Auster, Sophie Auster
  • Born Country: United States
  • Quotes By Paul Auster
  • Novelists
  • Notable Alumni: Columbia College (New York)
  • U.S. State: New Jersey
  • City: Newark, New Jersey
  • More Facts
  • Education: Columbia College (New York)

Childhood & Early Life

Paul Benjamin Auster was born in Newark, New Jersey into a middle-class Jewish family to Queenie and Samuel Auster. He was raised in the suburban municipality of South Orange, New Jersey and Newark and attended the Columbia High School in Maplewood. In 1970, he graduated from Columbia University, after which he moved to Paris where he worked as a translator of French literature. In 1974, he came back to the U.S and started writing essays, poems, and novels and also translated the works of many prominent French writers.

Career

In 1982, his book titled “Squeeze Play,” one of his works which he wrote under the pseudonym Paul Benjamin, was released. In 1987, his series of three mystery novels “The New York Trilogy” was published by the Faber & Faber publishing house. The same year, his novel “In the Country of Last Things” was also published. In 1989, “Moon Palace,” a novel set in Manhattan, New York was published. Published in 1990, his mystery novel titled “The Music of Chance” falls under the genre of “absurdist novels” that focuses on “random event” and the “meaninglessness of the universe.” In 1992, his crime novel “Leviathan” was published. The novel was later made into an audiobook released on Audible.com. The next year, he wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of his novel “The Music of Chance,” which was screened at the Cannes Film Festival. In 1995, he wrote the screenplay for the award-winning American film “Smoke,” which he also directed along with Wayne Wang. That year he also directed and wrote the screenplay for the film “Blue in the Face.” In 2002, his novel “The Book of Illusions,” based on the life of a university professor, was published. That year “The Story of My Typewriter” was also published. In 2005, his novel “The Brooklyn Follies” was published. In 2008, “Man in the Dark,” his novel centered on the presidential elections of 2000, was published. In 2009, “Invisible,” his collection of four short stories all interconnected to form a continuous story, was published. In 2010, “Sunset Park,” his novel set around the American financial recession, was published.

Major Works

Published in 1987, his novel “The New York Trilogy” became a great success and was the recipient of the Prix France Culture de Littérature étrangère award. He directed and wrote the screenplay for the film “Smoke,” which received the Silver Bear at the 45th Berlin International Film Festival, received the Danish Film Critics Bodil Award for Best American Film, and also earned the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay.

Awards & Achievements

In 1990, he received the Morton Dauwen Zabel Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 1996, he received the John William Corrington Award for Literary Excellence. In 2003, he was elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2006, he was the recipient of the Prince of Asturias Award for Literature. In 2006, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters for Literature.

Personal Life & Legacy

In 1974, he married his first wife Lydia Davis, but the marriage did not last long and the couple separated. They had a child together. In 1981, he married Siri Hustvedt, and the couple has a child together. In 2013, one of his autobiographical works “Report From The Interior” was published.

Trivia

This acclaimed American author and screenplay writer is so obsessive about hygiene that he carries his own set of cutlery with him wherever he travels.

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