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Paul Auster

ポール・オースター

Pōru Ōsutā

Pen Names: Paul Benjamin（Pseudonym used for early work (e.g. Squeeze Play)）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1947-02-03 （Newark, New Jersey, U.S.）
Died
2024-04-30 （Brooklyn, New York City, U.S.） age 77
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Religion
Jewish (cultural background)
Residence History
Newark, New Jersey → Paris, France — lived and worked translating → Brooklyn, New York

Career

Occupations
novelist, poet, screenwriter, filmmaker, translator, essayist, memoirist
Active Years
1974-2024
Affiliations
PEN American Center (board member; served as vice president 2005–2007), American Academy of Arts and Sciences (Fellow), American Academy of Arts and Letters (Member)
Memberships
American Academy of Arts and Sciences (Fellow / Member), American Academy of Arts and Letters (Member)
Influenced By
Stéphane Mallarmé, Joseph Joubert, Allen Mandelbaum
Influenced
Influenced contemporary anglophone and postmodern writers broadly
Nominations
Man Booker Prize 2017 — shortlisted for '4 3 2 1', International Dublin Literary Award longlisted (multiple works, 2000s–2019)

Education

Columbia University
Columbia College / Faculty of Arts and Sciences / English, Comparative Literature
Degree: BA, MA
Period: 1965–1970
Year of Graduation: 1970
Country: United States
Received BA and MA (English, Comparative Literature)

Awards

Prix France Culture (Foreign Literature)
1989
Organization: France Culture
Result: 受賞
Morton Dauwen Zabel Award
1990
Organization: American Academy of Arts and Letters
Result: 受賞
Prix Médicis Étranger
1993
Work: Leviathan
Organization: Prix Médicis
Result: 受賞
Independent Spirit Award (Best First Screenplay)
1995
Work: Smoke
Category: 脚本
Organization: Independent Spirit Awards
Result: 受賞
John William Corrington Award for Literary Excellence
1996
Organization: Centenary College (awarding body)
Result: 受賞
Prince of Asturias Award for Literature
2006
Category: 文学
Organization: Princess of Asturias Foundation
Result: 受賞
Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
2007
Organization: Ministry of Culture (France) / Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
Result: 叙勲
Honorary Doctorate, University of Liège
2007
Category: 名誉学位
Organization: University of Liège
Result: 授与
Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
2003
Organization: American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Result: 選出
Man Booker Prize (Shortlist)
2017
Work: 4 3 2 1
Category: 小説
Organization: Booker Prize Foundation
Result: ショートリスト（最終候補）

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The New York Trilogy

1987 Literary fiction / Postmodern

A collection of three loosely connected novellas that use detective-story forms to explore identity, language and narrative in a self-referential, postmodern mode.

chanceidentitylanguage and narrativeself-reference
Adaptations
  • [Graphic novel] City of Glass (graphic novel adaptation) (1994)
Translations
  • Japanese translations exist for the trilogy and each novella

Moon Palace

1989 Literary fiction

A coming-of-age novel that traces family history and life-changing coincidences, focusing on identity and the search for the past.

coming-of-agefamilychance
Translations
  • Available in Japanese translation

The Music of Chance

1990 Literary fiction

A novel about how chance and fate shape relationships and events; adapted to film in 1993.

chancefatehuman relationships
Adaptations
  • [Film] The Music of Chance (film) / ジョン・シュレシンジャー等 (1993)
Translations
  • Available in Japanese translation

4 3 2 1

2017 Literary fiction

A large-scale novel that charts one man's life in four divergent versions, exploring fate, choice, and the 'what if' of existence.

possibilityfatechoice
Translations
  • Translated into many languages (Japanese translation available)

The Book of Illusions

2002 Literary fiction

Explores memory and fiction through the mysterious disappearance of a film actor and themes of loss.

lossmemoryfilm and narrative
Translations
  • Available in Japanese translation

Bibliography

  • Squeeze Play (1982, as Paul Benjamin)
  • The Invention of Solitude (1982)
  • The New York Trilogy (1987)
  • Moon Palace (1989)
  • The Music of Chance (1990)
  • Leviathan (1992)
  • Mr. Vertigo (1994)
  • Timbuktu (1999)
  • The Book of Illusions (2002)
  • Oracle Night (2003)
  • The Brooklyn Follies (2005)
  • Man in the Dark (2008)
  • Invisible (2009)
  • Sunset Park (2010)
  • Winter Journal (2012)
  • 4 3 2 1 (2017)
  • Baumgartner (2023)
  • Burning Boy: The Life and Work of Stephen Crane (2021)
  • Bloodbath Nation (2023)

Adaptations

  • The Music of Chance (film, 1993)
  • Smoke (film, 1995; co-writer)
  • City of Glass (graphic novel adaptation, 1994)

Translations by Author

  • Translated Stéphane Mallarmé ('A Tomb for Anatole', 1983)
  • Translated Joseph Joubert ('The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert', 2005)

Translations of Works

  • Translated into more than 40 languages, including Japanese

Style & Themes

Literary Style
postmodern techniquesself-referential and experimental narrationclear, limpid prose often with autobiographical elements
Recurring Motifs
chance and fatefragmented identityboundaries between story and realityloss and loneliness

Health

  • Lung cancer
    2022–2024
    Diagnosed in December 2022 and treated; died of complications in April 2024.

Legacy

Paul Auster became one of the leading figures of postmodern literature in the anglophone world from the late 20th to early 21st century. Through experimental narration and New York-centered works he gained international recognition and numerous honors, securing an important place in contemporary letters.

Academic Societies

  • American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • American Academy of Arts and Letters

Archives

  • Columbia University Rare Book & Manuscript Library (finding aid: National Story Project records)

In Popular Culture

  • Referenced and reinterpreted across media—film adaptations, graphic novel adaptations, and mentions in music.

Quotes

  • Paul Auster has established one of the most distinctive niches in contemporary literature.
    Source: Michael Dirda, The New York Review of Books (2008)

Trivia

  • At age 14 he witnessed a boy struck and killed by lightning nearby, an event he described as formative.
  • Used the pen name 'Paul Benjamin' for early work.
  • 'Auggie Wren's Christmas Story' appeared in The New York Times and led to the film 'Smoke'.
  • His daughter Sophie Auster is a singer.