Paul Auster, the renowned Jewish-American novelist and writer known for his postmodern masterpieces like "The New York Trilogy," has passed away at the age of 77. According to reports, Auster died on Tuesday at his home in Brooklyn due to complications from lung cancer.
Auster's distinct literary voice and exploration of existential themes such as identity, chance, and fate earned him critical acclaim and a devoted global readership. With 34 books to his name, including celebrated works like "Moon Palace," "The Music of Chance," and "The Book of Illusions," Auster carved out a unique niche in contemporary literature.
Born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1947, Auster's writing journey began at the tender age of eight when he missed out on getting an autograph from his baseball hero, Willie Mays, due to a lack of a pencil. This experience instilled in him a lifelong habit of carrying a pencil, as he later wrote, "If there's a pencil in your pocket, there's a good chance that one day you'll feel tempted to start using it."
Auster's life was marked by pivotal events that shaped his literary themes. At 14, he witnessed a boy struck and killed by lightning during a summer camp, an incident he said "absolutely changed" his life and influenced his exploration of chance and fate in his writing.
After studying at Columbia University and a stint in Paris in the 1970s, Auster's breakthrough came with the publication of "City of Glass" in 1985, the first novel in his celebrated "New York Trilogy." His work gained international recognition, and he was awarded prestigious honors such as the Prince of Asturias Prize for Literature in Spain and the Prix Médicis Étranger in France.
Auster's personal life was intertwined with his literary endeavors. In 1981, he married writer Siri Hustvedt, with whom he had a daughter, Sophie, who became a singer and actor. Tragically, in April 2022, Auster and his first wife, Lydia Davis, lost their son, Daniel, to a drug overdose.
Despite his battles with cancer, Auster continued writing until the end, with his final novel, "Baumgartner," published in October 2022.
Auster is survived by his wife, daughter, sister Janet Auster, and a grandson.
