The Invention of Solitude - Annotated by Paul Auster (Paperback)

About the Book

"One day there is life . . . and then, suddenly, it happens there is death". So begins THE INVENTION OF SOLITUDE, Paul Auster's moving and personal meditation on fatherhood. After the death of his own father, Auster discovers a 60-year-old family murder mystery that could account for the old man's elusive character. Later the book shifts from Auster's identity as son to his own role as father.

Book Synopsis

"A beautifully poetic work" -- Joyce Carol Oates

In his debut memoir, renowned author Paul Auster shares heartfelt and personal meditations on fatherhood that "integrates heart and intellect, sensation and speculation . . . as it relentlessly tries to make sense of the shocks of living" (Newsday)

"Moving, delicately perceived portraits of lives and relationships."--The New York Times Book Review

"One day there is life. . . . And then, suddenly, it happens there is death."

The Invention of Solitude, split into two stylistically separate sections, established Paul Auster's reputation as a major voice in American literature. The first section, "Portrait of an Invisible Man," explores Auster's memories and feelings after the death of his father, a distant, undemonstrative, almost cold man. As he attends to his father's business affairs and sifts through his effects, Auster uncovers a sixty-year-old family murder mystery that sheds light on his father's elusive character. In "The Book of Memory," the perspective shifts from Auster's identity as a son to his role as a father. Through a mosaic of images, coincidences, and associations, the narrator, "A," contemplates his separation from his son, his dying grandfather, and the solitary nature of storytelling and writing.

Review Quotes

"Paul's poignant memoir of his father is a beautifully poetic work, a meditation upon the very limits of language and our ability to know one another." -- Joyce Carol Oates

"Moving, delicately perceived portraits of lives and relationship."--The New York Times Book Review

"Integrates heart and intellect, sensation and speculation . . . as it relentlessly tries to make sense of the shocks of living."--Newsday

"Eloquent . . . Paul Auster's memoir combines the subjects of time, language, and family into a beautifully moving and intelligent mosaic."--Charles Baxter

Praise for Paul Auster:

"One of the great American prose stylists of our time."--New York Times

"Auster really does possess the wand of the enchanter."--New York Review of Books

"One of the great writers of our time."--San Francisco Chronicle

"Contemporary American writing at its best."--New York Times Book Review, on Invisible

"A literary original who is perfecting a hybrid genre of his own."--Wall Street Journal

"A literary voice for the ages" -- Robert McCrum

About the Author

Paul Auster was the bestselling author of 4 3 2 1, Sunset Park, The Book of Illusions, Moon Palace, and The New York Trilogy, among many other works. In 2006, he was awarded the Prince of Asturias Prize for Literature. His other honors include the Prix Médicis étranger for Leviathan, the Independent Spirit Award for the screenplay of Smoke, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Burning Boy, and the Carlos Fuentes Prize for his body of work. His novel 4 3 2 1 was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and was a Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. His work has been translated into more than forty languages. Paul Auster died in 2024.