Paul Auster, author of the New York trilogy, dies

US author Paul Auster, best known for writing the New York trilogy of novellas, has died at the age of 77.

Born in Newark, New Jersey, on 3rd February 1947, Auster died of complications from lung cancer on Tuesday 30th April. His editor at Faber, Walter Donohue, has described him as being "among the truly great innovators of the literature of the past half century". 

Auster first published a collection of poems titled “White Spaces” in 1980, followed by his first memoir, The Invention of Solitude, in 1982.  The first book in the New York trilogy, City of Glass, was rejected by 17 publishers before eventually making it to bookshelves in 1985. It follows a crime writer who becomes a private investigator before descending into madness while working a case. The series was hailed as a postmodern reimagination of the detective genre.  

More than 30 novels followed, including Moon Palace, The Book of Illusions, Invisible, and 4 3 2 1 (all published by Faber in the UK), which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Other honours include the 1993 Prix Médicis (for Leviathan, also published by Faber), the 1995 Independent Spirit award for best first screenplay (for his film "Smoke"), and the 2006 Prince of Asturias Prize for Literature – "for the transformation in literature that he has wrought by blending the best of American and European traditions".

Auster’s most recent novel, Baumgartner, was published by Faber in 2023 and centres on a novellist, Sy, in the aftermath of his wife’s death. In the book, Auster writes: “The sharp edge of grief strikes one right to the heart and there are no words that can assuage it.”

Donohue, said that Auster has “left us with a message about how to deal with our grief”.

He added: “Paul was a towering figure on the Faber list and among the truly great innovators of the literature of the past half century. We are a company of Paul Auster fans and many of us will be thinking today of our first Paul Auster book and the path it led us on. 

“We have so many happy memories of time spent with Paul and his wife Siri Hustvedt in his 36 years publishing with Faber. Our thoughts are with Siri and his family and friends.”

Auster was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2022. His son with the writer Lydia Davis, Daniel Auster, died of a drug overdose in 2022, having recently been charged with the death of his 10-month-old daughter Ruby. He is survived by his wife, the writer Siri Hustvedt, their daughter Sophie Auster, his sister Janet Auster, and a grandson.