Paul Auster (1947-2024), “The Book of Illusions,” 2002

Paul Auster (1947-2024), in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky, recorded October 2, 2002 while on tour for his novel “The Book of Illusions.”

Paul Auster, who died on April 30th, 2024 was a world-renowned novelist, memoirist, and film-maker whose works were translated into forty languages.

His career as a writer began with a well-received memoir, The invention of Solitude in 1982, and took off in 1987 with the publication of three connected novellas titled The New York Trilogy. His fame and success grew over the following years. He moved into film-making with the screenplays for two movies directed by Wayne Wang, Smoke and Blue in the Face, and then wrote and directed his own film, Lulu on the Bridge.

There are three Paul Auster interviews in the archives. In this first interview, he discusses his film work, goes into depth about both The Book of Illusions and his previous novel, Timbuktu, much of the interview centersd on Lulu on the Bridge and the two Wayne Wang collaborations. The second interview was conducted in  2008 for Man in the Dark, and finally in 2017 for his masterpiece, 4 3 2 1.

Currently, all three films, the two with Wayne Wang and Lulu on the Bridge, can be rented via Amazon. From time to time, all three show up on the Criterion app. This interview was newly edited in May 2024 and the entire interview has never seen the light of day until now.

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