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The New York Trilogy is three variations on the classic detective story, that become an investigation into the art of storytelling and notions of identity. Moon Palace moves from Manhattan to the cruelly beautiful landscape of the American West to tell the story of three generations and examine America, art and the self. In the Country of Last Things offers a hunting picture of a devastated futuristic world - but one which may be seen to shadow our own. ... Read more

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This is the story of a young writer's struggle to stay afloat. Paul Auster's memoir is essentially about money - and what it means not to have it. From one odd job to the next, from one failed scheme to another, he investigates his own stubborn compulsion to make art, and in the process shares with readers of this book a series of adventures and encounters. The book ends with three of the longest footnotes in literary history, including a card game, a baseball thriller, and three unproduced short plays. ... Read more

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This is the story of Paul Auster's typewriter. The typewriter is a manual Olympia, more than 25 years old, and has been the agent of transmission for the novels, stories, collaborations, and other writings Auster has produced since the 1970s, a body of work that stands as one of the most varied, creative, and critcally acclaimed in recent American letters. It is also the story of a relationship. A relationship between Auster, his typewriter, and the artist Sam Messer, who, as Auster writes, "has turned an inanimate object into a being with a personality and a presence in the world." This is also a collaboration: Auster's story of his typewriter, and of Messer's welcome, though somewhat unsettling, intervention into that story, illustrated with Messer's muscular, obsessive drawings and paintings of both author and machine. This is, finally, a beautiful object; one that will be irresistible to lovers of Auster's writing, Messer's painting, and fine books in general.

"It was never my intention to turn my typewriter into a heroic figure. That is the work of Sam Messer." Paul Auster

30 color.
6 x 8.5 in. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

I love this book
I absolutely love this book. I collect typewriters and Messer's artwork is amazing. Also the story is original and I strongly suggest purchasing this book.

An affair with a typewriter
This lovely little artistically-crafted volume should be on everyone's shelf who loves to useor who owns a manual typewriter. There are a lot of us out there who use computers for certain activities of daily living, including work, email, you know what I mean. But when one wants to compose, really compose -- fiction, poetry, memoir -- one heads for the typewriter. They're handy for all those lists you compose in the kitchen as well. Auster's memoir of his typewriter is both beautiful and touching. He really gets it. Anyone who owns one will understand. Anyone who doesn't will probably wish he did.

Paul, Sam, and the Typewriter.
Paul's story:
It all began in 1974 when he came back in the United States. He tells how he got the typewriter, why - later on - he didn't buy an electric typewriter nor a computer like everybody else nowadays. Finally we learn how Sam Messer met the typewriter and how a relationship grew between these two.
Sam's story:
The illustrations of Sam Messer are the most attractive part of this book. They are not really illustrations but tell a second story of their own.The story of an old and hard working typewriter, battered by the fingers of Paul Auster. A typewriter that suffers pain, hardship and gets angry once in a while.
To be honest: this book is a book of art and almost all the credits go to Sam Messer. A must !

The best book I have ever bought!
Anyone who enjoys a good Paul Auster story or the briliant paintings of Sam Messer will love this book.I am an artist myself and I recomend this to anyone who is at all interested in Messers work.The typewriters are beautiful.I want to buy this book for everyone I know.

A Good Coffeetable Book
If you are a typewriter fetishist or a Paul Auster devotee, then you will find a justification for buying this book. That said, I must say that the book is a bit too thin, both in volume and content, to justify a purchase for most people. This book is mostly about Sam Messer, an artist friend of Auster, who became infatuated with Auster's Olympia portable typewriter (those who are curious about the specific model name/number, it looks to be a SM 9). Over the period of twenty years or so, he painted the typewriter. The paintings are intimate and beautifully done; the best ones feature Auster in the composition. These are perhaps the loveliest depictions of a typewriter you'll find out there, and if you are a typewriter aficionado, you will love this book. Paul Auster provides a perfunctory anecdotal history of his typewriter, and at reaching the end of the book, I empathized with him (and many other writers like him) who attach illogical but mysterious significance to a writing instrument. The book is handsome, and a breezy read; you can read the whole thing in fifteen minutes - perfect for your houseguests. ... Read more

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This book provides a wide-ranging discussion of realism, postmodernism, literary theory and popular fiction before focusing on the careers of four prominent novelists. Despite wildly contrasting ambitions and agendas, all four grow progressively more sympathetic to the expectations of a mainstream literary audience, noting the increasingly neglected yet archetypal need for strong explanatory narrative even while remaining wary of its limitations, presumptions, and potential abuses. Exploring novels that manage to bridge the gap between accessible storytelling and literary theory, this book shows how contemporary authors reconcile values of posmodern literary experimentation and traditional realism. ... Read more

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The translation of Philippe Petit is worth the price of the
Philippe Petit's "High Wire", incredible lessons challenge ourideas of life, safety. spirituality and magic.His greatest fear is notfalling; it is not being able to step out on the wire. ... Read more

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The novels of Paul Auster—finely wrought, self-reflexive, filled with doublings, coincidences, and mysteries—have captured the imagination of readers and the admiration of many critics of contemporary literature. In Beyond the Red Notebook, the first book devoted to the works of Auster, Dennis Barone has assembled an international group of scholars who present twelve essays that provide a rich and insightful examination of Auster's writings.

The authors explore connections between Auster's poetry and fiction, the philosophical underpinnings of his writing, its relation to detective fiction, and its unique embodiment of the postmodern sublime. Their essays provide the fullest analysis available of Auster's themes of solitude, chance, and paternity found in works such as The Invention of Solitude, City of Glass, Ghosts, The Locked Room, In the Country of Last Things, Moon Palace, The Music of Chance, and Leviathan.

This volume includes contributions from Pascal Bruckner, Marc Chenetier, Norman Finkelstein, Derek Rubin, Madeleine Sorapure, Stephen Bernstein, Tim Woods, Steven Weisenburger, Arthur Saltzman, Eric Wirth, and Motoyuki Shibata. The extensive bibliography, prepared by William Drenttel, will greatly benefit both scholars and general readers.

Customer Reviews (1)

Stroyteller? Absolutely!
Paul Auster? Well known author, a novelist. No, it's better if we inspect this writer without any restrictions. Because he is unmeasureable. Essays and fiction.Beyond the Red Notebook: Essays on Paul Auster, this is oneof the best essaycollections i've ever read. Although it is not a fiction,you can still notice that he is discussing about the same problems as hedoes in he's novels. All these essays are each one involved with aself-seeking. Like Auster is trying to prove that his standpoints in novelsare true. I would compare Auster with Susan Sontag. Sontag's style issimilar to Auster's one. So this book is a good one in two aspects:composition and the essays itself. So, why I put only 4 stars. Well, italways seems to me in every book that there could be something more. Butthis is a great book, no doubt about that. ... Read more

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"Magnificent poetry; dark, severe, even harsh yet pulsating with life." -John Ashbery"A poem has to be heard before it is written. Paul Auster hears with his marvelous exactness the tone and modulations of that voice." -William Bronk ... Read more

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Nights in New York City through the windows of a lone taxi. The rise and fall of a gay art dealer. Welcome to the literary world of Paul Auster in this excerpt from his novel, Brooklyn Follies. Included is an interview with Mary Morris about the novel, Bush's politics and how literature weighs in today in America. ... Read more