My Take
Paul Auster was one of those writers who made New York feel like a philosophical puzzle you'd never quite solve, and that was entirely the point. Growing up in Newark, studying at Columbia, then spinning out The New York Trilogy in the late '80s — a set of novels that play with detective fiction the way a magician plays with a deck of cards — he carved out a lane that was uniquely his: postmodern but never cold, cerebral but with a beating human heart underneath. He could write a memoir, a screenplay, direct a film, translate French poetry, and somehow make it all feel like one continuous conversation with himself about chance, identity, and loss. When he died on April 30, 2024, at seventy-seven, I felt like a certain kind of literary New York went a little quieter. His best books don't age — they just wait for you to catch up.
Overview
Paul Benjamin Auster (February 3, 1947 – April 30, 2024) was an American writer, novelist, memoirist, poet, and filmmaker. 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).
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Paul Auster
- Name (Japanese)
- ポール・オースター
- Reading
- ぽーる・おーすたー
- Born
- February 3, 1947 – April 30, 2024
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Aquarius / Boar
- Origin
- Newark, New Jersey, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- screenwriter / film director / linguist / translator / novelist
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Columbia High School
- University
- Columbia University
Awards & achievements
- 2006 Princess of Asturias Literary Prize
- 1993 Prix Médicis étranger
- Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- 2007 Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres
- 1991 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction
- 2007 Honorary doctor of the University of Liège
- honorary doctorate of the University of Copenhagen
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
5. Works & records
| Category | Title | Role | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notable work | Man in the Dark | — | |
| Notable work | The Book of Illusions | — | |
| Notable work | Leviathan | — | |
| Notable work | The New York Trilogy | — |
6. Links
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.