Paul Auster’s works enjoy a lasting popularity as examples of late-twentieth century American fiction. Auster criticism, however, has so far mainly focused on a few selected writings – notably the novels of The New York Trilogy, and Moon Palace – and their characteristics. The writer’s overall theme as well as his recent works are rarely taken into consideration. This study closes the gap by providing a comprehensive appraisal of this author’s complete œuvre. By virtue of its detailed analysis of Paul Auster’s central theme and delineation of its development, the writer’s works can be positioned within the framework of contemporary American literature, and a tendency within the general development of postmodernist literature can be made out.
Both in the academic context and in secondary education, Paul Auster’s works enjoy a lasting popularity as study texts from the field of late-twentieth century American fiction. For the interpretation of this author’s writings, however, it has proved indispensable to take into account the autobiographical and literary allusions which occur in his books, and the cross-references among them. This volume answers to the need for accurate information by providing detailed material on the allusions and references in Auster’s works. Furthermore, the book also contains data on earlier versions of Auster publications (this material was compiled after a study of the novelist’s original manuscripts) and the most comprehensive bibliography of Auster’s writings and criticism of his work to date.
Paul Auster’s works enjoy a lasting popularity as examples of late-twentieth century American fiction. Auster criticism, however, has so far mainly focused on a few selected writings – notably the novels of The New York Trilogy, and Moon Palace – and their characteristics. The writer’s overall theme as well as his recent works are rarely taken into consideration. This study closes the gap by providing a comprehensive appraisal of this author’s complete œuvre. By virtue of its detailed analysis of Paul Auster’s central theme and delineation of its development, the writer’s works can be positioned within the framework of contemporary American literature, and a tendency within the general development of postmodernist literature can be made out.
Both in the academic context and in secondary education, Paul Auster’s works enjoy a lasting popularity as study texts from the field of late-twentieth century American fiction. For the interpretation of this author’s writings, however, it has proved indispensable to take into account the autobiographical and literary allusions which occur in his books, and the cross-references among them. This volume answers to the need for accurate information by providing detailed material on the allusions and references in Auster’s works. Furthermore, the book also contains data on earlier versions of Auster publications (this material was compiled after a study of the novelist’s original manuscripts) and the most comprehensive bibliography of Auster’s writings and criticism of his work to date.