The Career and Critical Reception of Paul Auster

Abstract

This article offers an overview of the literary career of Paul Auster, a contemporary American writer whose prolific output commands a remarkably loyal following. Furthermore, it outlines the reasons for the polarized critical reception met by his novels, which continue to attract – by Auster’s own admission –‘the best reviews and the worst reviews of any writer I know’ (Burns, Carole. The Washington Post 16 Dec., 2003). Famous for his concern with the plight of the artist, and for his meditations on the power and the limitations of language, Auster has been typically analysed from a (largely a‐political) postmodern perspective. This article will therefore also consider the shift in recent Auster scholarship towards a re‐evaluation of the political charge of his fiction, especially in the light of his response to George W. Bush’s ‘war on terror’ in the wake of 9/11.

“Far more poetry than justice.” The economics of austerity in the America of Paul Auster

“…He is also the author of four memoires, five screenplays, poetry books, and several essays collected in five different volumes. A detailed literature review of Auster studies, conducted until the novel Sunset Park (2010), was produced by Stefania Ciocia in 2012 on these pages. The first prominent study on Auster's literature was Denis Barone's Beyond the Red Notebook (1995).…”