Here and Now - Softcover

Auster, Paul; Coetzee, J. M.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 057129927X ISBN 13: 9780571299270

Publisher: Faber & Faber, 2013

Synopsis

Paul Auster and J. M. Coetzee are respectively responsible for some of the great contemporary works of fiction: Auster's The New York Trilogy or Coetzee's Disgrace are only two of these authors' legendary works. In Here and Now, these remarkable thinkers are brought together in print for the first time. Although Auster and Coetzee had been reading each other's books for years, the two writers did not meet until February 2008. Not long after, Auster received a letter from Coetzee, suggesting they begin exchanging letters on a regular basis and, 'God willing, strike sparks off each other.' Here and Now is the result of that proposal: an epistolary dialogue between two great writers who became great friends. Over three years their letters touched on nearly every subject, from sports to fatherhood, film festivals to Israel and Palestine, philosophy to politics, from the financial crisis to art, family, marriage, friendship, and love. Their correspondence offers an intimate and often amusing portrait of these two men as they explore the complexities of the here and now, and reflects two sharp intellects whose pleasure in each other's friendship is apparent on every page.

About this title

Review:

"[A] civilized discourse between two cultivated and sophisticated men...A pleasure to be in their company."--Michael Dirda, "The Washington Post."
"These two famous writers might seem at first an unlikely pairing...[but] as a series of collaborative inquiries and an extended meditation on the processes of friendship, the book has something substantive to offer."--"The New York Times Book Review"
""Here and Now" is akin to eavesdropping on a dazzling, extended dinner conversation between two intelligent and substantive minds... A very appealing, human portrait of these two writers."--"Bookpage "

"A genial, often riveting exchange. Amiable and revealing missives from two remarkable minds."--"Kirkus Reviews"
"What keeps us reading is not the brilliance of the minds - though that feature is generously on offer as well - but the warmth, unpretentiousness, and honesty that emerges from these pages...An invigorating and deeply engaging look at two literary greats, as we've never seen them before."--"thestar.com"
"A striking portrait of two great friends...the result of Auster and Coetzee's exchange is nothing short of witty, sharp and thought-provoking, and offers a fascinating look into the minds of two of the 20th century's greatest writers."--"Malibu Magazine"
Praise for J. M. Coetzee
"Many, this reviewer among them, would consider [Coetzee] the greatest living novelist in English." --"The New York Times Book Review"

"Coetzee may turn out to be one of the last great novelists, exalted by the intensity of his self-awareness and his willingness to make his home in a spiritual and intellectual impasse of which few of his contemporaries were even aware."--"The Nation
"

"South Africa's most brilliant novelist . . . challenges us to doubt our preconceived notions not only of love but of truth itself." --"The Seattle Times
""Coetzee's signature brilliance...A mixture of penetrating insight and brittle wit that forces our attention on common terrors we don't want to think about."--"The Washington Post
"
Praise for Paul Auster
"A writer of lean, genre-tinged novels whose unaffected prose belies their philosophical complexity....He's also one of our most playful novelists, a lover of narrative labyrinths on par with Borges, to whom he has often been compared."--"The Washington Post"

"Paul Auster is one of those sages with confounding talent--confounding for one because he's simply "that good... "He belongs among Vonnegut, Roth, and DeLillo."--"The Daily Beast"

[A] civilized discourse between two cultivated and sophisticated men A pleasure to be in their company. Michael Dirda, The Washington Post.
These two famous writers might seem at first an unlikely pairing [but] as a series of collaborative inquiries and an extended meditation on the processes of friendship, the book has something substantive to offer. The New York Times Book Review
"Here and Nowis akin to eavesdropping on a dazzling, extended dinner conversation between two intelligent and substantive minds... A very appealing, human portrait of these two writers." Bookpage

A genial, often riveting exchange. Amiable and revealing missives from two remarkable minds. Kirkus Reviews
What keeps us reading is not the brilliance of the minds though that feature is generously on offer as well but the warmth, unpretentiousness, and honesty that emerges from these pages An invigorating and deeply engaging look at two literary greats, as we ve never seen them before. thestar.com
A striking portrait of two great friends the result of Auster and Coetzee s exchange is nothing short of witty, sharp and thought-provoking, and offers a fascinating look into the minds of two of the 20th century s greatest writers. Malibu Magazine

Praise for J. M. Coetzee
Many, this reviewer among them, would consider [Coetzee] the greatest living novelist in English. The New York Times Book Review

"Coetzee may turn out to be one of the last greatnovelists, exalted by the intensity of his self-awareness and his willingness to make his home in a spiritual and intellectual impasse of which few of his contemporaries were evenaware."--The Nation

South Africa s most brilliant novelist . . . challenges us to doubt our preconceived notions not only of love but of truth itself. The Seattle Times
"Coetzee's signature brilliance...A mixture of penetrating insight and brittle wit that forces our attention on common terrors we don't want to think about."--The Washington Post

Praise for Paul Auster
A writer of lean, genre-tinged novels whose unaffected prose belies their philosophical complexity .He's also one of our most playful novelists, a lover of narrative labyrinths on par with Borges, to whom he has often been compared. The Washington Post

"Paul Auster is one of those sages with confounding talent confounding for one because he's simplythat good...He belongs among Vonnegut, Roth, and DeLillo. The Daily Beast

"

-[A] civilized discourse between two cultivated and sophisticated men...A pleasure to be in their company.---Michael Dirda, The Washington Post.
-These two famous writers might seem at first an unlikely pairing...[but] as a series of collaborative inquiries and an extended meditation on the processes of friendship, the book has something substantive to offer.---The New York Times Book Review
-Here and Now is akin to eavesdropping on a dazzling, extended dinner conversation between two intelligent and substantive minds... A very appealing, human portrait of these two writers.---Bookpage

-A genial, often riveting exchange. Amiable and revealing missives from two remarkable minds.---Kirkus Reviews
-What keeps us reading is not the brilliance of the minds - though that feature is generously on offer as well - but the warmth, unpretentiousness, and honesty that emerges from these pages...An invigorating and deeply engaging look at two literary greats, as we've never seen them before.---thestar.com
-A striking portrait of two great friends...the result of Auster and Coetzee's exchange is nothing short of witty, sharp and thought-provoking, and offers a fascinating look into the minds of two of the 20th century's greatest writers.---Malibu Magazine

Praise for J. M. Coetzee
-Many, this reviewer among them, would consider [Coetzee] the greatest living novelist in English.- --The New York Times Book Review

-Coetzee may turn out to be one of the last great novelists, exalted by the intensity of his self-awareness and his willingness to make his home in a spiritual and intellectual impasse of which few of his contemporaries were even aware.---The Nation

-South Africa's most brilliant novelist . . . challenges us to doubt our preconceived notions not only of love but of truth itself.- --The Seattle Times
-Coetzee's signature brilliance...A mixture of penetrating insight and brittle wit that forces our attention on common terrors we don't want to think about.---The Washington Post

Praise for Paul Auster
-A writer of lean, genre-tinged novels whose unaffected prose belies their philosophical complexity....He's also one of our most playful novelists, a lover of narrative labyrinths on par with Borges, to whom he has often been compared.---The Washington Post

-Paul Auster is one of those sages with confounding talent--confounding for one because he's simply that good... He belongs among Vonnegut, Roth, and DeLillo.---The Daily Beast

Book Description:

Here and Now is a collection of letters between Paul Auster and Nobel laureate J. M. Coetzee, two of the greatest writers of our time.

About this edition

• Publisher: Faber & Faber
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 057129927X
• ISBN 13: 9780571299270
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256