American writer Paul Auster, known for acclaimed novels such as 4 3 2 1 and The New York Trilogy, has died aged 77.
Auster’s death was confirmed on Wednesday by his representatives, the Carol Mann Agency, who did not provide further details, although he was diagnosed with cancer in 2022.
Author of more than 30 books, his work has been translated into dozens of languages and admired abroad – so much so that he was named a knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government in 1991.
It was also shortlisted for the Booker Prize and voted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
“We are deeply saddened to hear of the death of Booker Prize nominee Paul Auster, whose work touched readers and influenced writers around the world, and whose generosity was felt in so many places,” The Booker Prizes posted on X.
Auster was born in Newark, New Jersey, to a middle-class Jewish family in 1947 and wrote in a brief memoir that his only ambition since he was 16 was to write.
Auster referred to writing as “a kind of disease.” Photo: Reuters
His dreams would be well tested after graduating from Columbia University, when Auster struggled for years before being able to find a publisher or make money from his books.
He wrote poetry, translated French literature, worked on an oil tanker, tried to commercialize a baseball game, and even thought about making money by growing worms in his basement.
His career would also expand into film, directing Lulu on the Bridge in 1998 and The Inner Life of Martin Frost in 2007.
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He said in 2011 that he enjoyed writing by hand in notebooks and then producing the finished copy on a typewriter rather than a computer.
“I feel most alive when I’m working,” he added. “I’m convinced that writing is a kind of disease.
“Who would want to spend their lives sitting in a room, putting words on paper? It’s a strange occupation. You have to have a great taste for solitude.”
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He married fellow author Siri Hustvedt in 1982 and had a daughter, Sophie. He also had a son, Daniel, from a previous marriage to author and translator Lydia Davis.
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