June, 2004 - Nr. 6
U.S. author reads to sold-out crowd in Berlin
TWIG - American author Paul Auster and his wife Siri Hustvedt read excerpts from Auster’s new book "Oracle Night: A Novel" to a sold-out audience at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin on Sunday (May 9).
The couple, two of the most important members of the intellectual New York literary scene, were received with the fanfare of royalty. To some, they represent the epitome of the literary marriage: An uncommonly attractive husband and wife team of authors par excellence who have enjoyed both commercial and critical success.
Auster himself has become something of a literary pop star in Germany, with his most recent novel debuting on Spiegel’s top ten fiction list. His previous books, from "City of Glass" and the "New York Trilogy" to his "Book of Illusions" have made him one of just a handful of American writers whose works have managed to touch a broad German readership.
Perhaps it is his keen, self-critical eye that has gained Auster’s works special recognition in Germany. Along with Jonathan Franzen and Jeffrey Eugenides, Auster is among a group of popular, critically-acclaimed writers whose time living in Europe has influenced the way they view their own culture.
After the reading, Auster answered questions concerning the
autobiographical elements of his works and the role that fate and chance
play in his texts. In the end, Auster said, the way it is in books is the
same as in life. The author feels helplessness at not even being able to
control his own fiction, he said.
Republished with permission from "The Week in Germany"
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