Hand to Mouth: A Chronicle of Early Failure - Softcover

Auster, Paul

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0312422326 ISBN 13: 9780312422325

Publisher: Picador, 2003

Synopsis

Paul Auster's book is a fascinating and often funny memoir about his early years as a young, struggling writer. From one odd job to the next, from one failed scheme to another, Auster investigates his own stubborn compulsion to make art and descibes his ingenious, often farfetched attempts to survive on next to nothing. From the streets of New York City, Dublin, and Paris to a dusty little village in Mexico, Auster introduces an unforgettable cast of characters while examining what it means to be a writer.

About this title

Review:

"Delightful...A gracious and humane tale...One can only marvel at Auster's artistry" --The Boston Sunday Globe, The Boston Sunday Globe

"Auster writes in a voice so clear, so mesmerizing, and so profound...[he] is unafraid of his own power, precisely because he has acknowledged humiliation's alchemy, its way of letting words vibrate at whatever weird, golden velocity they wish, Hand to Mouth vibrates...beautiful." --Wayne Koestenbaum, Bookforum

"Required, inspiring reading for Auster-holics and aspiring writers." --Kirkus Reviews

"An engaging account of his early attempts to stay afloat as a writer...with a colorful cast of sharply etched characters who he meets along the way." --Chicago Tribune

"As a cautionary tale for writers, this is a superb book." --Publishers Weekly

About the Author:

Paul Auster's previous novel, Timbuktu, was a national bestseller, as was I Thought My Father Was God, the NPR National Story Project anthology, which he edited. He lives in Brooklyn, New York. The Book of Illusions is his tenth novel.

About this edition

• Publisher: Picador
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0312422326
• ISBN 13: 9780312422325
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 176