He was born on February 3, 1947 in Newark, New Jersey. His father, Samuel Auster, owned several houses in Jersey City. His mother, Queenie Auster, was thirteen years younger than her husband. Their family was middle class and not very happy (or even very unhappy). Paul spent his childhood in the suburbs of Newark - South Orange and Maplewood. In 1959, parents bought a mansion in a prestigious area of the city. Paul’s uncle, translator Allen Mandelbaum, left several boxes of books at their home during
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He was born on February 3, 1947 in Newark, New Jersey. His father, Samuel Auster, owned several houses in Jersey City. His mother, Queenie Auster, was thirteen years younger than her husband. Their family was middle class and not very happy (or even very unhappy). Paul spent his childhood in the suburbs of Newark - South Orange and Maplewood. In 1959, parents bought a mansion in a prestigious area of the city. Paul’s uncle, translator Allen Mandelbaum, left several boxes of books at their home during his trip to Europe. It was then that young Oster developed an interest in budging and he enthusiastically began to study the contents of these boxes. He later became Paul’s first teacher and critic when he began writing poetry. Oster attended high school in Maplewood, about 20 miles south of New York. In the summer, he worked as a waiter, and then worked in the store of another uncle Mo in Westfield, New Jersey. The year Paul was due to finish school, his parents divorced. He and his mother and younger sister moved into an apartment in Newark’s Weequahic neighborhood. After graduation, Oster went on a trip to Europe, visited Italy, Spain, Paris and Dublin (in honor to James Joyce). While traveling, Paul tried to write a novel.
Back in the States, he enrolled at Columbia University. There he studied English literature and studied comparative literature. During his studies at the university he discovered French poetry. He graduated from Columbia University in 1970 with a Master of Arts degree. He worked as a sailor on an oil tanker for a year. From 1971 to 1974 he lived in France, two years in Paris and one in Provence. He translated French authors into English, and his poems were published in American magazines. In 1974, he returned to New York. In the 1970s, Oster mainly composed poems and essays published in various American literary journals, and was virtually unknown to readers. Since the 1980s, Paul Auster has focused on writing prose. His debut novel, Detective Squeeze Play?, was published under the pseudonym Paul Benjamin. In the mid-80s, Oster came to the attention of critics with the New York Trilogy?, three postmodern and experimental detective novels - City of Glass? (1985), Ghosts? (1986) and The Locked Room? (1986).
In 1987, Oster published a book, In the Country of Last Things? Next came the novels “The Temple of the Moon?” (Moon Palace?, 1989) and “Leviathan?” (Leviathan?, 1992), the main characters of which are obsessed with the desire to chronicle the lives of other people. The Invention of Solitude? (1982) is about Oster’s memories of his father’s death and his thoughts on writing. He has published other autobiographical books, The Art of Hunger? (1982), The Red Notebook? and Hand To Mouth? (which includes the novel Squeeze Play?). Auster has also published poetry books Unearth? (1974) and Wall Writing? (1976), collections of essays White Spaces? (1980) and The Art of Hunger: Essays, Prefaces, Interviews? (1982), as well as novels The Music of Chance? (?The Music of Chance?, 1990; filmed), ?Auggie Wren's Christmas Story? (1992), Mr. Vertigo? (?Mr Vertigo?, 1994), and books (?Tim?), (?Libuse?, 1999), and books? Oracle Night? (2003) is Oster's last published novel. He is also the author of True Tales of American Life (2001) and Book of Twentieth-Century French Poets?. Oster translated into English the works of such authors as Joan Miró, Jacques Dupin, Jean-Paul Sartre, Stefan Mallarme, Joseph Joubert and Jean Chesnaud. In addition, Oster wrote the scripts of the films Smoke? (?Smoke?, 1995) and In exhaustion? (?Blue in the Face?, 1995), and was also a screenwriter and director of the film Where are you, Lulu?? (Lulu on the Bridge?, 1998) Among Oster's awards are ?chevalier de l'apos;Ordre des Arts et des Lettres? (1993), ?Prix Medicis? (1993; in the category "foreign literature?"), the award ?American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters? (1990). From 1986 to 1990, Oster taught writing at Princeton University. He is married to writer Siri Hustvedt. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.