Why Write? [Hardcover]

Paul Auster (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1996

autobiographical essays

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Through childhood memories, stories about his children and anecdotes drawn from his career, novelist Auster (Moon Palace) searches for the motivation that forces him to write. Whether he's recalling his disappointment when Willie Mays refused to give an autograph or the disbelief following the death of a fellow sleepaway camper, Auster's vibrant prose holds the reader's attention and brings into brilliant focus both the tender and the tragic. But the book's brevity prevents the author from providing any truly resonant wisdom, and instead limits him to the briefer shelf-life of wit and sentimentality. Fans who yearn to study at the feet of the master may invest these few reminiscences with all the importance that they can muster. Students of prose will be left ultimately unsatisfied and perhaps baffled over why Auster restrained himself, when a longer and more serious examination of his talent would certainly have been welcomed.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Burning Deck Books (June 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1886224161
• ISBN-13: 978-1886224162
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,357,399 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Paul Auster is the bestselling author of Travels in the Scriptorium, The Brooklyn Follies, and Oracle Night. I Thought My Father Was God, the NPR National Story Project anthology, which he edited, was also a national bestseller. His work has been translated into thirty languages. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Among books, the best 20 minute read I've had, April 15, 1998

By 

(Joel Kugelmass) [e-mail] (Sacramento, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Why Write? (Paperback)

This snappy, deceptive book grows on you when you piece together the real point of the 10 or so micro chapters (some are only a few paragraphs long)- human experience is by nature a series of surprises and the good writer revels in them. Fans of the film Smoke, script by the same author, will see how Auster's theory works: the story's structure consists of surprising turns of events as they thread through and are integrated by the imagination of the viewer.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a writer's journey, December 7, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Why Write? (Paperback)

Since Mr. Auster only enjoys a cult following, it's only rarely that his fans get a chance to get a candid glimpse at him. So, without much more to say, "Why Write?" is his journey about how he became a writer. While not fascinating in the same way that William S. Burroughs became a writer, it's still nonetheless a fantastic read for aspiring writers. And, of course, for his fans

5.0 out of 5 stars An introduction to the world of Paul Auster, April 14, 2005

By 

Jan Dierckx (Belgium, Turnhout) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Why Write? (Hardcover)

The contents of 'Why Write?'are more or less the same as in 'The Red Notebook': a collection of very short stories in which coincidence plays a major role. It's of no importance whether the stories are true or not. Coincidence plays an important role in the works of Paul Auster. Maybe it's exagerated to say that, according to Paul Auster, life has little meaning, but the music of chance dominates our life whether we like it or not. You could consider 'Why Write?' as an introduction to the more
important works of Paul Auster.