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2006 News

You can see Paul Auster receiving his Prince of Asturias prize earlier this year on You Tube by clicking here.

According to Aitor Alonso's blog Paul Auster has recently initimated two things: firstly that his new film 'The Inner Life of Martin Frost' should soon be completed and will possibly have its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival which starts on Thursday 8th February 2007; secondly that as soon as his work on the film is complete he intends to start his next novel.

About this time last year I told you about an up and coming animator by the name of Malika Whitaker and her animated intro to 'Mr Vertigo'. Malika e-mailed to say "I just wanted to let you know that a film I worked on earlier this year "Grrr..." will be screened tomorrow evening, Wednesday 13th December, on Channel 4 at 7.55 pm, just after the news." You can see her completed version of Mr Vertigo on the following site.

On Saturday 9th December 2006 there will be a featured artist project by Glenn Thomas entitled 'My Mouth is Tired Now: Peter Stillman's Dialogue' at The Center for Book Arts in New York. The project consists of a printed linen portfolio containing 8 silkscreen prints combining a text from The New York Trilogy - City of Glass with drawings by Glenn Thomas and a colophon signed by Glenn Thomas and Paul Auster.

The award winning novelist Mandy Sayer was quoted in The Australian on Saturday 9th December 2006 as saying "OK, I'd read a shopping list if it were written by Paul Auster. His most recent two novels, however, were slight disappointments because they relied too heavily on Auster's personal narrative religion: coincidence. His latest offering, Travels in the Scriptorium (Faber & Faber), sees him returning to the more original form of storytelling that distinguished his debut, The New York Trilogy."

On Friday 8th December 2006 an article appeared in Deseret News entitled 'Leisure Reading' by Dennis Lythgoe. The article reviews a book entitled 'The Ecco Book of Christmas Stories' which has been edited by Alberto Manguel for the Ecco Press."The editor and the publisher of this book have done a genuine service to those who look for good stories at Christmastime - stories they can tell over and over or read every year as a holiday tradition. These are written by some of the best short-story writers and novelists of all time." The first story is 'Auggie Wren's Christmas Story' by Paul Auster.

In an article about Haruki Murakami's latest novel in The Japan Times David Cozy wrote on Sunday 3rd December 2006 "Just as fiction that is purely mundane can be, well, mundane, fiction that is only fantastic is often only dull. Authors such as Paul Auster and Jonathan Carroll are successful precisely because they don't write in one mode or the other, but rather in both, and at the same time. By placing the mundane next to the fantastic these authors are able to show us the beauty of such everyday affairs as coffee or conversation; by placing the fantastic next to the mundane they provide the contrast necessary for readers to discern what makes their fancy other than facile."

On Wednesday 29th November 2006 an article entitled 'New in paperback' appeared in The New York Times. The first book mentioned was 'The Brooklyn Follies'. Out now in most stores.

On Monday 20th November 2006 an article in India eNews wrote "After the Booker and the Nobel, now it is time for what is often called the most eclectic and unpredictable, as well as the richest, of the world's literary awards: the 2007 International Impac Dublin Award...The list, drawn from titles published in English between January and December 2005, also has some recent works of fiction that won praise from critics and readers alike: Ian McEwan ('Saturday'), John Banville's ('The Sea'), Zadie Smith ('On Beauty'), Haruki Murakami ('Kafka on the Shore'), Paul Auster ('The Brooklyn Follies')." It's a prize that Auster was previously won so this may impede his chances this year.

The IMPAC Award was the initiative of Gay Mitchell, then Lord Mayor of Dublin and Dr James B Irwin, Chairman of IMPAC in 1992. It is presented annually with the objective of promoting excellence in world literature. The award is open to novels written in any language and by authors of any nationality. The short list will be announced in April 2007 and the winner in June 2007.

On Tuesday 14th November 2006 I received the following e-mail from Matt Tiffany from Condalmo. He wrote "I'm running a small contest on my site to give away my ARC of Travels in the Scriptorium and would appreciate a link on your site to let folks know". You can find out more about Matt's contest by clicking on the following link."

On Sunday 12th November 2006 it was confirmed in on Virgin Movie News that "In-favour actress Eva Green has signed up to star in the previously announced big-screen adaptation 'The Country Of Last Things'. The French stunner, who starred as Vespa Lynd in the recently-released Bond film 'Casino Royale', will reportedly take on the role of Anne Blum in the new film, which has been adapted from Paul Auster's novel of the same name. Writer-director Alejandro Chomski has been signed up to helm the film, which has been described as a "bleak, post-apocalyptic tale of the world in ruin", in which theft is so commonplace it has been decriminalised and strange suicide cults are springing up everywhere. Chomski is hoping to start shooting in January in Argentina."

Movieweb went on to say "The film is about a postapocalyptic quest set against a backdrop of urban deprivation, says Production Weekly. Alejandro Chomski will direct from a script he adapted from Paul Auster's novel. The masses are homeless, theft is so rampant it is no longer a crime, and death - by arranging either suicide or assassination - is the only way out. Buildings collapse daily, driving huge numbers of citizens into the streets, where they starve or die of exposure - if they aren't murdered by other vagrants first. Government forces haul away the bodies, and licensed scavengers collect trash and precious human waste. Weird cults form around the most popular methods of suicide. Anne Blume (Green) comes to this unnamed city in search of her brother and finds friendship - even love - amid the devastation."

On Saturday 11th November 2006 there was an article in The Australian entitled 'Art Transplant' with a sub title of 'Jodie Minus crosses the Brooklyn Bridge and discovers the other side of New York'. Jodie goes on to write that the best cafe in Brooklyn is the 2nd Street Cafe. "The walls of the 2nd Street Cafe in the heart of Park Slope are papered with dozens of illustrations made by happy customers who have doodled on the small cafe's paper tablecloths (crayons are provided). The menu's emphasis is on fresh, quality produce, simply prepared, and its unfussy burgers, organic vegetables and line-caught fish are apparently appreciated by husband-and-wife writers Paul Auster and Siri Hustvedt, who have become regulars."

On Friday 10th November 2006 there was an article about the phenomena of street artists such as Bansky and Jerome Mesnager entitled "From street to gallery, the pochoir artist arrives" in the International Herald Tribune. The article went on to say "Tagging and graffiti vandalism stopped it being possible to work in the streets" said Jef Aerosol, who began stenciling music, screen and literary icons, including Patti Smith, Charlie Chaplin, Syd Barrett and Paul Auster, in 1982, "I stopped working in the streets between 1995 and 2000."

On Wednesday 8th November 2006 Steve Anderson, director of the documentary 'Fuck', was asked in an interview with indieWire for some of his creative influences. Steve went on to say "I also love author Paul Auster, who can take the simplest story and layer it into levels of noir and nuance that can really blow you away."

On Wednesday 1st November 2006 an article appeared in Brooklyn based publication Courier Life entitled "Neighborhood Life In Words And Pictures - Talented Duo Catalogues Borough's Heart". The article reads "This importance of the place, (Brooklyn), the people, and the experience are perfectly captured in the works of Seth Kushner and Anthony LaSala, two delightfully brainy men that have joined forces in a project they call The Brooklynites. Kushner (the photographer) and LaSala (the writer) have spent the past two years adventuring into the heart of the Brooklyn experience, capturing its people on film and on paper...Shoots have also captured famous Brooklynites in and around their own homes and neighborhoods, including Spike Lee, Rosie Perez, Steve Buscemi, Paul Auster, Jonathan Lethem, John Turturro, Michael Showalter, Matisyahu and many others. LaSala and Kushner cite the shoots with actor Steve Buscemi and writer Paul Auster as two of their greatest encounters from the project. Both subjects took time and determination to reach and secure, making the achievements all the sweeter."

According to New York Cool on Thursday 26th October 2006 at the BAM cinematek 'Blue In The Face' will be shown as part of a Made In (Brooklyn) NY series at 7pm. There will be a Q&A with Paul Auster after the move. Having just visited the BAM site - I can confirm that the Q&A part with Paul Auster has now been cancelled.

On Monday 23rd October 2006 Zeno de Rossi e-mailed me with a couple of links. The first link is to his My Space page where you can listen to his tune composed in honour of Paul Auster entitled 'The Daniel Quin Theme'. The second link is to Zeno's site itself.

On Thursday 19th October 2006 at 12pm there was a talk on literature with Paul Auster and students at the Main Lecture Hall of the Campus del Milan Library at the University of Oviedo, Spain. And then at 8.30pm Pedro Almodovar, (Arts), and Paul Auster, (Letters), met at the Jovellanos Theater in Gijon. This was all on the eve of the Prince of Asturias prize ceremony.

On Friday 20th October 2006 the grand presentation ceremony took place at Oviedo's Campoamor Theatre at 6.30pm.

According to the Foundation's website Paul Auster was awarded the prize this year "for the transformation in literature that he has wrought by blending the best of American and European traditions, for the innovation he has brought to narrative style in the cinema, and for integrating a number of devices used by the cinema into literature. Auster has managed to appeal to young readers by exploring new perspectives of reality and by providing an aesthetically pleasing, invaluable account of the problems faced by the individual and by social groups in our times."

Aitor Alonso e-mailed on Saturday 21st October 2006 to say "As you and your readers know very well, Paul Auster have been given today the Prince of Asturias Award for the Letters in a solemn ceremony in the city of Oviedo, in the North of Spain. Auster was chosen to read one of the speechs. I have selected for you the most important paragraph or the text, which you can read here in its original form. "In other words, art is useless - at least when compared, say, to the work of a plumber, or a doctor, or a railroad engineer. But is uselessness a bad thing? Does a lack of practical purpose mean that books and paintings and string quartets are simply a waste of our time? Many people think so. But I would argue that it is the very uselessness of art that gives it its value - and that the making of art is what distinguishes us from all other creatures who inhabit this planet, that it is, essentially, what defines us as human beings. To do something for the pure pleasure and beauty of doing it". I'm making a special coverage in my blog, This is Brooklyn!"

On Thursday 5th October 2006 'Travels In The Scriptorium' officially hit the bookshelves in the UK and the Netherlands. I saw a copy in Borders in central London last Sunday as did Stuart Harrington, (from t-melt and also film curator for the site), he wrote "I went into Borders yesterday and was surprised to find Travels in Scriptorium. Didn't think it was due out yet...needless to say I bought a copy." And on the same day, i.e. Saturday 30th September 2006 Walter Hooghiemstra wrote "Only a few hours ago I've bought 'Travels in the Scriptorium'. I asked the keeper of my bookshop in Amersfoort (Holland) when to expect it, but it turned out it had arrived earlier this week." And finally David Pendray wrote to me on Wednesday 4th October 2006 "I have a copy of this book now in England. I walked into my campus waterstones bookstore and just spotted it with the other paul auster books - only one copy. So of course I bought it on impulse."

I'd like to say a big thank you to James-Paul Kelly for sending me his copy of the book to read.

Daniel Blanaru e-mailed on Monday 9th October 2006 to say "It seems that "Travels In The Scriptorium" hit the bookshelves in Israel as well. I'm not really up to date with the way these things usually go, but it seems we get it here as soon as it comes out in the UK. I came across it yesterday in Tel Aviv (the British hardcover edtion), was somewhat surprised, and, of course, bought it within a second. I already started reading it, and I have to say it's enchanting. Auster once again crafted a dream-like dark world that just grips you and doesn't let go. Highly recommended!"

On Wednesday 11th October 2006 Stelios Paganopoulos wrote to say "travels in scriptorium, is also available is brussels from fnac in store as the book is not available in the online store i mean the original english faber & faber edition not a french translation although the stock was not quite high, 3-4 books available." And the next day Matt Tiffany sent an e-mail saying "I've got one of the Advanced Readers Copies floating around here in the United States and am writing about it at my blog, listed here, if any of your readers wish to stop by."

On Sunday 15th October 2006 Rob Huyser wrote "the Dutch translation of Travels in the Scriptorium (Op reis in het Scriptorium) is already in the shops in Holland for a week. I think this is the very first translation of the book which was released almost at the same time as the original. I enclose a copy of the cover in Dutch."

Here are some recent reviews:

The Guardian
The Guardian
The Times
Bookmunch
The Financial Times

Below are some earlier news items leading up to the recent publication.

Paul Auster's next novel 'Travels In The Scriptorium' is due to published on Tuesday 2nd January 2007. "Kind of a fable," Auster says. "It resonates with what's happening in America today."

I've since had an e-mail from the curator of The Brooklyn Follies page, Morten Ting, to say that the Faber & Faber website have given a publishing date for the release of 'Travels In The Scriptorium' as Thursday 5th October 2006. So a little nearer than we originally thought. Morten e-mailed again recently to say "Today I found the time to make a little webpage on Travels in the Scriptorium or Rejser i skriptoriet (Danish title). It's basically just a bunch of links just yet, but it will grow soon with some original content." It has some of the front covers on the site and will be the best source for Auster's next novel up until it's release in the UK. Click here to visit the page.

Christian Aeroe e-mailed to say that the "new Paul Auster book was released in Denmark on the Tuesday 6th June 2006. It has recieved so and so reviews. It is the new novel called "Rejser i Scriptoriet" in English "Travels in the Scriptorium" and it is about 170 pages. It has been described in most newspapers as a semi good Paul Auster book - Good for old PA readers but not recommendable for new. I haven't had time to read it, but the first to pages sound pretty good and a lot like vintage Auster. And its dedicated to Lloyd Hustvedt. The book is written in danish. The following is a (probably bad) translation of a text from the danish radio website (DR): The book is about a man called mr.blank who is being held back in a little apartment as a part of a mysterious treatment. Mr. Blank cant remember names or relations or the function of things. But his conscience and emotional life is intact and he is troubled by a sense of guilt, although that he at the same time feels that he is a victim of a horrible injustice. It sounds a bit Like Kafkas "the process"

Anders Fridh e-mailed to say "just read an interview on the web with Per Kofod; the danish publisher of Austers books. When asked about forthcoming books of Auster he tells briefly about the manuscript he's currently reading; "It will be a smaller book and it will be called "Rejser i skrivestuen" in danish. Auster himself says that 'The Brooklyn Follies' is his funniest book so far, but this is certainly quite funny as well. He will be using som past characters from his books; among others Anna Blume from 'In the country of last things', however in quite another setting in this novel." Mr Kofod furthermore says he's assured the book will be published in danish as the first language in the world. Any person who's well versed in the tongue of the Danes can access the interrogation here. Where one can read about Kofods first rendez-vous with Paul Auster, a meeting which was supposed to last for fifteen minutes but ended up by lasting two hours and dealing more with football and tennis than books. He also tells about the fact that 'The Brooklyn Follies' is the first book in Denmark to be launched in a mp3-format."

Aitor Alonso writes "Paul Auster's next novel, Travels in the Scriptorium, is a coming back to characters and situations of Auster's past books in a quite confusing way. Travels in the Scriptorium is the title of the second novel of Martin Frost, the main character of The Inner Life of Martin Frost; If you remember, The Inner Life... is one of the movies filmed by Hector Mann and the only one that David and Alma watch at the end of the novel 'The Book of Illusions'. It is as well the title of one of Mann's movies that burn into the fire before David can see it. According to one south-american newspaper, El Mercurio, Auster said: "I finished a small book around a month ago, maybe the strangest novel I ever written. The characters are characters of my last books that are coming back. I often ask myself what happens to them after the novel ends.The book will be named Travels in the Scriptorium". There is more information on Aitor's Spanish blog here.

Thanks to Aitor Alonso it looks like two film projects are possibly on the boil according to the Internet Movie Database. 'The Inner Life of Martin Frost' is to be based on 'The Book of Illusions' and directed by Paul Auster in 2006. It will star his daughter Sophie Auster and Michael Imperioli, ('Sopranos'). For at least the next year, according to a recent interview, he will be directing a movie, whose script he has also written. Called "The Inner Live of Martin Frost," it's taken, in part, from his novel "The Book of Illusions." His daughter, Sophie, who appeared in his 1998 film "Lulu on the Bridge," which he also wrote and directed, appears in the new movie. According to Marcelino "I found out that the next film of Paul Auster is going to be made here near Lisbon. One of the producers is Paulo Branco, a famous portuguese cinema producer. In the previous week Paul Auster gave a public conference in Lisbon presenting the movie and so; and the local newspaper talked about it."

Gabriel e-mailed to say "In a spanish newspaper last week was published that Paul Auster will direct 'The Inner Life of Martin Frost', Based in The Book of Illusions, produced by Paulo Branco and it will begin in may, 8. ('The Inner Life of Martin Frost' ('La vida interior de Martin Frost'), basada en su obra 'El libro de las ilusiones'. Estas incursion en el mundo del cine, tras 'Lulu in the bridge', con Wim Wenders, contara con la produccion de Paulo Branco y comenzara a rodarse en la capital portuguesa el proximo 8 de mayo"). Today I've read that Paul Auster is in Lisbon this week lookin' for "exteriores", I don«t know the exactly word in english, different places to shoot the film."

It looks like English actor David Thewlis may be joining the cast of Auster's movie.

Incidentally, painter and print maker Glenn Thomas is collaborating with Paul Auster to produce a book entitled 'The Inner Life of Martin Frost'. The book is produced with fold-out pages featuring Thomas's prints and drawings joined with Auster's text.

Also in 2007 Alejandro Chomski is due to have completed an Argentian film of 'In The Country of Last Things' based on the book by Paul Auster. More to follow as and when news comes through. According to About.com Eva Green, ('The Dreamers'), has been cast in 'In The Country of Last Things'. As an aside there also looks like a 15 minute short has been made called 'Le Carnet Rouge' by Mathieu Simonet, possibly based on 'The Red Notebook'.

According to the LA Times on Sunday 1st October 2006 Paul Auster is in the betting and a contender for the 'Nobel Literature Prize'.

In September 2006 I found the following portrait taken of Paul Auster and his daughter Sophie by Jean-Christian Bourcart.

On Wednesday 27th September 2006 there was an article in Alarab Online which wrote: "Celebrating the launch of the anthology Lebanon, Lebanon This anthology of short fiction, literary essays, poetry and illustrations has been produced in response to recent events in Lebanon so as to raise awareness of the situation, and to send all profits from sales directly to children's charities in Lebanon. Contributors include Harold Pinter, Mahmud Darwish, John Le Carre, Yann Martel, Paul Auster, Hanif Kureishi, Adonis, Orhan Pamuk, Doris Lessing, Jung Chang, Arnold Wesker, John Berger, Margaret Drabble and Alberto Manguel."

The Nunnery Gallery in London will present The Invention of Solitude from Thursday 21st September 2006 through Sunday 22nd October 2006. The Invention of Solitude combines a collaborative system of curation with the work of four artists', Rebecca Birch, Matthew Lutz-Kinoy, Alex Hudson and Rob Smith. "The title of the exhibition appropriates the book of the same title by American author Paul Auster."

On Wednesday 13th September 2006 Jonathan Safran Foer wrote about his Empty Page Project in Der Tagesspiegel. " A sheet of empty graph paper came from Paul Auster, which evoked his style."

I received an e-mail from Susana Ferreir who is currently seeking permission for the director Horacio Buscaglia to produce a stage version of 'Smoke'. The date of the first performance is planned for September 2006 in the 160 seat theatre 'Circular de Montevideo' The average price of tickets will be $3 and may run for one year.

Louis Greenberg spoke to ZA@Play about his debut novel, 'The Beggars' Signwriters' on Friday 25th August 2006. When asked to name some writers who had inspired him he said "The New York writers Don DeLillo, Paul Auster and Jonathan Lethem all write intelligent, layered prose, yet stay in touch with physical details. They also appeal to me because their ancestors are fairly recent immigrants to a wildly cosmopolitan, fast, vicious and occasionally rewarding city."

On Tuesday 22nd August 2006 a DVD version of the 1968 film 'Hunger' was released. The DVD includes a new interview with director Henning Carlsen and an intriguing conversation between novelist Paul Auster and Regine Hamsun, the granddaughter of Knut Hamsun.

On Thursday 17th August 2006 Winnifred Jelier e-mailed to say "the other day I coincidently ran into this drawing of Paul Auster...the drawing comes from this site: http://www.siteway.com/gallery.php."

On Wednesday 16th August 2006 Mike Davis sent an e-mail entitled 'Irvine Welsh is Paul Auster' to say "Aye, i don't really understand why people would want to get signed books, but after a long queue and lots of wine, at the last moment it just occurred to me to say 'can you sign it Paul Auster, in the style of Irvine Welsh?' and he did. it seemed so simple at the time, but now all i need to do is find a Paul Auster signing..."

On Wednesday 9th August 2006 an interview with Ryan Fleck, director of 'Half Nelson', appeared in Indiewire. When asked "What are your biggest creative influences?" Fleck answered "My family, Hal Ashby, Frederick Wiseman, Howard Zinn, Paul Auster, Gus Van Sant, the Andersons, the Bushes, the UC Theater in Berkeley (before they tore it down), John Lennon, Broken Social Scene, Brooklyn, and Anna Boden." 'Half Nelson' was a definite favorite at this year's Sundance Film Festival, where it quickly grabbed attention from audiences and critics alike.

On Monday 7th August 2006 there was a review of Fionn Regan's newly released album entitled 'The End of History' by Drowned In Sound. The review goes on to say that "the majestic 'Put A Penny In The Slot', where the songwriting of Conor Oberst meets Ben Kweller's vocals; where heartfelt longing ("I can't help from crying, I wish you were mine") and strange twists ("I apologise, I seem to have arrived home with items in my bag from your house") combine with intelligent literary references to both Paul Auster's Timbuktu and Saul Bellow's The Adventures of Augie March during four minutes of touching, flawless indie-folk."

On Sunday 6th August 2006 Valentina Olivastri wrote to say "it occurred to me that Travels in the Scriptorium is the title of one of the movies Hector Mann made after he went to live to Tierra del Sueno. (See The Book of IIllusions, p. 208) I think it's an interesting cross-reference."

On Saturday 5th August 2006 Dylan Staley sent me an e-mail saying "Here is a July 2006 interview with Sophie Auster that I didn't see linked to your news page. It concerns her career as a singer/actress/model, her upbringing, and her father's film "The Inner Life of Martin Frost." This is, from what I know, the most extensive interview with her that's been printed in English." It was from The Telegraph and is a great piece.

On Wednesday 2nd August 2006 Mariano Dossena e-mail me with this ad for a production of 'Hide & Seek' in Argentina. Since then Laura Castillo Marques has sent me some more information. It's a production of 'Hide And Seek', (written by Paul Auster) with Daniel Toppino and Alcira Serna. It's directed by Mariano Dossena and it's on every Friday at 8.30pm in August and September 2006. The venue is La Tertulia, Gallo 826, (Phone 54-11-6327- 0303). in Buenos Aires City. Tickets are $12 and students and pensioners are $10.

"A couple of actors that once lived in glory a long time ago, decide to lock themselves in two small theatres to give a sense to their existence. Written in 1976, Hide and Seek comprises of a brief work trilogy, (Laurel and Hardy go to heaven, Blackouts, and Hide and Seek) that Auster wrote during the seventies, inspired by the dramatic art of Beckett, whom Auster admires and has translated. Until now a single musical version has been known in Denmark by Michael Mantler (2000). With the opening of Hide And Seek in Argentina, the theatre of Paul Auster is inaugurated in our country."

On Monday 31st July 2006 film curator Stuart Harrington e-mailed to say "This might be of interest, if you've not already seen it (scroll to the bottom)."

On Tuesday 11th July 2006 Urban Fox wrote a piece in The Times entitled 'Fever Pitch Strikes'. He wrote "the American writer Paul Auster is among those who say - in his case in an essay called 'The Best Substitute For War,' - that it's because of the World Cup and the excuse it offers to retreat into a ritualised fantasy of harmless national togetherness once every four years that we've managed, for more than half a century, to avoid global conflict." You can read the full essay 'The Best Substitute For War' in the book entitled 'Collected Prose' by Paul Auster.

On Tuesday 11th July 2006 Ana Maria Sirera sent me an e-mail which went "I'm sending you an article, which appeared in "La Nacion" on Sunday 9th, it is one of the most important newspaper in Argentina." Please click here to read the article. Please note that it is written in Spanish and that it has a photo of Paul Auster on set of 'The Inner Life of Martin Frost'.

I received an e-mail from Lauren, (who works for M80), saying that on Wednesday 5th July 2006 a documentary on past and current independent film makers will be aired on TCM. The documentary is called 'Edge of Outside' and will feature Paul Auster. You can find out more details about the documentary by clicking here.

On Tuesday 4th July 2006 old friend of the site and designer of a Livejournal blog about Auster, Emli Bendixen, e-mailed me to say "here's a comic book version of City of Glass running in the Danish newspaper Politiken at the moment...check it out here."

On Sunday 25th June 2006 The New York Times reported that Paul Auster, amongst others, has offered his services to Public School 107 in Brooklyn to help them raise money for a library. Writers who have volunteered for the series, which carries a $10 admission fee, are mostly Mr. Grand's friends and acquaintances and fellow Brooklynites. Among them are Jonathan Lethem, Colson Whitehead, Paul Auster, Jhumpa Lahiri, Jonathan Safran Foer and Rick Moody. So far, the readings have earned $12,000.

Mehrnews reported on Friday 23rd June 2006 that The Brooklyn Follies is to hit the bookshelves in Iran this week.

I received the following e-mail from Andres Sanchez "according to the official page of Medellin's Poetry Festival, Paul Auster will be reading his poems in 2006 edition. Another writers confirmed are Margaret Atwood, Derek Walcott, Jose Saramago and Harold Pinter." Between Saturday 24th June 2006 and Sunday 2nd July 2006, 80 poets from 60 countries will meet with nearly 150,000 persons in Medell’n and 10 other Colombian cities.

On Monday 26th June 2006 Tim B sent an e-mail saying "just in case any of your readers were thinking of shelling out for the air fare to Colombia just to see Mr Auster at the Medellin Poetry Festival, as mentioned on your website, I thought I'd forward the reply I got from the festival management. 'No vino Paul Auster en 2006.' I think the reply means 'He's not coming.'"

On Wednesday 31st May 2006 Aitor Alonso wrote to say "Paul Auster has been given today the 2006 Prince of Asturias Award for Letters in its 26th edition, one of the highest prices for arts in Spain. The decision was announced by the Jury today in Oviedo. The Jury has decided to bestow the 2006 Prince of Asturias Award for Letters on Paul Auster "for the transformation in literature that he has wrought by blending the best of American and European traditions, for the innovation he has brought to narrative style in the cinema, and for integrating a number of devices used by the cinema into literature. Auster has managed to appeal to young readers by exploring new perspectives of reality and by providing an aesthetically pleasing, invaluable account of the problems faced by the individual and by social groups in our time", said the Jury."

Elena, (www.hotelexistencia.blogspot.com), also wrote to me to say "I am a Spanish fan of Mr.Auster, and I just wanted you to know that today he was selected as the new winner of the Principe de Asturias Price in Literature, a very important price that every year is given in Spain to important figures in different aspects such as Politics, Science, Art, etc...this price is very very important and prestigious, both in and out of Spain (some of the winners of the Literaure one are, for example Susan Sontag, Henry Miller, Gunter Grass, Mario Vargas Llosa, Jose Saramago, Doris Lessing...these are just a few)...Because it's a Spanish price, I feel really really happy today!! Mr. Auster, who is filming in Portugal, said today to the Spanish media, that he was "happy and surprised"." CBS News has more information here.

On Wednesday 24th May 2006 in an interview with film buyer Eve Gabereau in The Guardian it said "Later in the afternoon, she has a meeting scheduled with another French sales agent, Gemini Films. She's been following their film, The Inner Life of Martin Frost, since script stage, and it's an unusual project, being the directorial work of novelist Paul Auster. Auster is a tricky customer, she explains - not least because he will only communicate by letter."

On Sunday 7th May 2006 in an interview with Audrey Tautou by Robin Marchbank of the Scotland on Sunday it said that reading "is a pastime she treasures and her favourite authors are Victor Hugo, Oscar Wilde and Paul Auster." And according to The Guardian Beth Orton is also a fan.

The Herbst Theatre interview between Stephen Elliott and Paul Auster will be broadcast on KQED-FM on Sunday 16th April 2006 at 1pm, Tuesday 18th April 2006 at 8pm and Wednesday 19th April 2006 at 3pm. It will be broadcast by other NPR affiliates thereafter (each affiliate has its own schedule). Stephen Elliott's latest novel is called 'Happy Baby'.

On Tuesday 28th March 2006 a new graphic classic edition of Paul Auster's The New York Trilogy was published by Penguin. It hast an excellent front cover by Art Spiegelman.

On Tuesday 28th March 2006 a four-volume set of Beckett's canon was published entitled The Grove Centenary Editions. All four volumes were edited by Paul Auster.

According to M&C Books writers from around the world plan to mark Monday 20th March 2006, the third anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, as the 'day of political lies.' The Berlin-based Peter Weiss Foundation for Art and Politics, which organizes the annual Berlin Literature Festival, said Wednesday that public readings will be held on March 20 in dozens of cities in Europe, the United States, Asia and Australia to raise awareness of the substance and form of political lies. The events are to include a reading of Eliot Weinberger's What I Heard About Iraq in 2005, which was first published in the London Review of Books. It is a compendium of statements from American government authorities and their allies before and after the war and places them in counterpoint to the observations and experiences of soldiers and Iraqis and compares them as well with the progress of the reconstruction, the abuse at Iraqi prisons and the reliability of prewar intelligence. Among the writers signing the call for the 'day of political lies' were Britain's Doris Lessing and Nobel Prize winner Harold Pinter, India's Amitav Gosh, Turkey's Orhan Pamuk, Americans Paul Auster and Russell Banks, and Germany's Peter Schneider and Ulla Hahn.

On Saturday 11th March 2006 many of the distinguished alumni of the Columbia Review gathered in Morningside Heights to read and reminisce at what was called the Review's first-ever reunion. Authors from the 1930s to the present included Pulitzer Prize winners (Richard Howard and Louis Simpson), a former poet laureate (Daniel Hoffman), and well-known names such as Luc Sante and Paul Auster.

On Thursday 9th March 2006 an article in Artnet said that "The American Academy of Arts and Letters has elected 12 new members, including four artists, to fill the vacancies in its membership of 250 American artists, architects, writers and composers. The new artist members are Eric Fischl, Alfred Leslie, Jules Olitski and Nancy Spero. Other new members include playwrights A.R. Gurney and Wallace Shawn, poet Frank Bidart, writers Paul Auster, David McCullough and Lorrie Moore, and composers Martin Bresnick and Peter Lieberson."

Recently the president of the borough of Brooklyn, Marty Markowitz, declared Monday 27th February 2006 as an official Paul Auster Day. He said "He's a true Brooklyn character and that's why I'm naming a day for him. When you meet him you know he's a Brooklyn character. He's got this Brooklyn spirit and Brooklyn attitude." Thanks to Marcus Wyche for this information. The following is from a recent interview with the author "I'm a little embarrassed about the whole thing, I have to say," Auster laughs. He brings out the large proclamation from the Brooklyn Borough President's Office: "Whereas, on behalf of all Brooklynites, I salute Paul Auster - like the great Walt Whitman before him for putting our beloved borough on the page, so to speak." Asked if there would be a parade, Auster says, half-jokingly, "I hope not."

On Monday 27th February 2006 Paul Auster will be at BAM in Brooklyn NY at 7pm as part of his ongoing tour of his latest novel.

According to Aitor the Spanish version of The Brooklyn Follies will be on the shelves on Monday 27th February 2006, released as usual by Anagrama.

According to the International Herald Tribune on Friday 17th February 2006 Siri "Hustvedt is more commonly identified with is her husband, the novelist Paul Auster, and he pops up in ''A Plea for Eros'' with witty observations about Hustvedt and the literary life. And when writing about her marriage". A piece in the Observer on Sunday 19th February 2006 went on to say "As in the novels of her husband Paul Auster, which throng with Auster-like figures, Siri Hustvedt has a passion for describing herself and her life in writing. She gives the reader the feeling that they are in intimate, even prurient, companionship with her."

On Thursday 16th February 2006 Paul Auster will be at the Community Bookstore/Ethical Culture in Brooklyn NY as part of his book tour of 'The Brooklyn Follies'.

On Wednesday 15th February 2006 I received an e-mail from Bruno Loeb saying "From "The Book of Illusions", "Oracle Night", "The Brooklyn Follies", the original paintings are on my website."

I received an e-mail today from Gisela Kloetzer which might appeal to Moon Palace fans - she wrote "today is Thursday 9th February 2006. 35 years ago Apollo 14 returned from the Moon. Here is my Interview with Ed Mitchell."

On Friday 3rd February 2006 there was an article Pantagraph which listed the 100 best first lines from novels as decided by the American Book Review. Number 24 was "It was a wrong number that started it, the telephone ringing three times in the dead of night, and the voice on the other end asking for someone he was not." from the City of Glass (1985). It was also Paul Auster's 59th birthday.

The following information has been supplied by the message board and the New York Times.

An article in the latter read "Paul Auster, the American writer with the European sensibility who lives in Park Slope, is talking from Paris. He and his wife, the novelist Siri Hustvedt, are there to attend a concert by their daughter, Sophie, a singer. "We're just along for the ride," he said yesterday, chuckling. Mr. Auster's new book, "The Brooklyn Follies" (Henry Holt, $24), is set in the New York of recent times and, somewhat surprisingly, he sees a connection between Paris and Brooklyn. "I was just out for a walk trying to stay awake and overcome my jet lag," he said from his hotel in the heart of St-Germain-des-Pres. "There is an intimacy in the neighborhoods in both cities that is similar, an intimacy that is rare in big metropolises. "Sure, the architecture is different," he continued, "the population is different and the language is different. But in Brooklyn, people are in their backyards and on their stoops in the summer and it very much has the intimacy of Paris." Mr. Auster's protagonist in his new book, Nathan Glass, has come from Westchester looking for "a quiet place to die" and settles on Brooklyn. The book continues a favorite Auster theme about the contingency of life, a theme that he expressed in the title of one of his best-known books, "The Music of Chance." Was there an incident in his life that made chance one of Mr. Auster's literary themes? "Hundreds of things made me feel that way," he said, "but probably the pivotal moment was when I was 14 and at summer camp" in upstate New York. "We went out on a hike and we got caught in an electrical storm." He and another boy found themselves crawling underneath a barbed-wire fence when a lightning bolt struck, electrocuting the boy instantly. "My head," Mr. Auster, now 58, recalled, "was inches from his feet."

Cecile on the message board wrote Sophie Auster "is apparently getting some publicity here, right before her two gigs in France (Strasbourg and Paris). In the last few days, I read two articles/interviews, one in a magazine called Epok (published by 'La Fnac', which is the French equivalent of something like Borders' or Barnes & Nobles) and the other in a cultural weekly called 'Les Inrockuptibles' (that deals mostly with music and cinema)... Daddly is mentioned plenty, but it looks like both journalists were pretty impressed by the fact that they met him - esp. the one from Les Inrockuptibles, who saw the door open on Mr Auster... Anyway, she's getting very positive reviews, both about her singing and personality, and the article in Les Inrockuptibles is dithyrambic (or is it 'eulogistic'?)..."

Aitor replied by saying "Sophie is getting also some good critics in Spain, where her new album has been recently released. In an interview published in ABC, one of the gratest newspapers of the country, she said: "I'm tougher than my father, I'm the real rocker"."

Paul Auster will be speaking on Wednesday 25th January 2006 at 8pm at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco as part of the City Arts & Lectures Program. Here is a link to the event. Tickets are $18.50. Thanks go to Jared Stika for this news. The interview will be with author Stephen Elliott who e-mailed me recently and said "We're going to be onstage together for an hour and the interview will also be broadcast on the largest local radio station, NPR."

Literary Arts brings Paul Auster to Portland, Oregon on Tuesday 24th January 2006 as a special event of the Portland Arts & Lectures program. Auster will appear in conversation with Siri Hustvedt. The event takes place at the First Congregational Church, 1126 SW Park Avenue, Portland, Oregon, USA. Tickets are $12 General Admission and $8 College student or Senior. You can buy tickets online without fees at www.literary-arts.org or ring 503 227 2583 to purchase them. Thanks to Barbara Verchot, Marketing Director of Literary Arts for the information. Brian McGuirk went to the event and this is what he said about it "This was a good event, but if you're a dedicated Auster reader there wasn't much new ground covered. Siri and Paul asked each other questions on stage for about 45 minutes and most of the answers have been covered in other interviews or led to a story from the red notebook. It was nice to be in their presence though and nice not to have to drive 3 hours to go see Paul for once (he usually stops in Seattle only). I did hear a bit of news. Paul asked Siri about her characters and how attached to them she grew and during the ensuing conversation it came out that Auster has already written a new book since the writing of The Brooklyn Follies and this book will bring back old characters from other books. Auster was surprised to find tat these characters were still alive in him and would still live on after he died." Click here for a review of the evening.

A screening of "As Smart As They Are: The Author Project" is taking place on Tuesday 24th January 2006 at 7:15 pm at Main Street Mall Screening Rooms, 333 Main Street, Second Level, Park City, UT. Running concurrent with the Sundance Film Festival, the Park City Film Music Festival has selected "As Smart As They Are" to screen as part of the 2006 program.

Author talks are due to take place at Benaroya Hall in downtown Seattle. Six contemporary writers will give talks in Seattle as part of the Seattle Arts & Lectures 2005-06 series. Paul Auster is scheduled for Monday 23rd January 2006. Siri Hustvedt will also be one of the authors attending. The time of the event is 7:30 p.m and the address is Benaroya Hall, 200 University St., Seattle, USA. The cost of the tickets is $30-$76 and you need to ring 206-621-2230 Ext 10 to purchase them.

Another screening of "As Smart As They Are: The Author Project" is taking place on Sunday 22nd January 2006 at 5:00 pm Main Street Mall Screening Rooms, 333 Main Street, Second Level, Park City, UT.

On Thursday 19th January 2006 Paul Auster carried on his book tour of 'The Brooklyn Follies' at Barnes and Noble, New York at 7pm.

On Wednesday 18th January 2006 Paul Auster and Paula Fox are on stage at the 92nd Street Y (Lexington and 92nd St.), at 8pm, reading from their latest works. Tickets are $17.

On Sunday 15th January 2006 Janne Haavisto e-mailed to say "Paul Auster reads two of his poems on a record by a Finnish band, The Farangs. The album "We Must Be Losing It" can be ordered through Aito Records on the following site, where you also listen to mp3 samples of the songs. The CD also features appearances by Wayne Kramer, Greg Palast, Marc Ribot etc.

On Sunday 15th January 2006 I received an e-mail from John Brawley, (contributor to 'I Though My Father Was God'), to say "thought this little tidbit from Pete Townshend's diary page might be of marginal interest to you, and perhaps your website readers. Pete is apparently a big Auster/Hustvedt reader." It reads "The Brooklyn Follies is Paul Auster's newest. Published very late in 2005 it is another fantastic story from him, full of ideas, concepts, sideshows and colour, all pinned on a really solid backbone of characters and story."

On Saturday 14th January 2006 Stephanie Harrison e-mailed to say that she has "included Mr. Auster's "Auggie Wren" in my anthology Adaptations: From Short Story to Big Screen". Please follow this link for details.

According to South Florida Scene Paul Auster discussed his newest New York story, Brooklyn Follies, at 7:30 at Miami Dade College in downtown Miami (300 NE Second Ave.) on Friday 13th January 2006. He appeared along with his wife, esteemed author Siri Hustvedt, at the event sponsored by Books & Books, which had free tickets.

On Thursday 12th January 2006 at 7pm 'As Smart As They Are: The Author Project' continues its tour at 826NYC, 372 Fifth Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11215. The phone number is 718 499 9884 and the suggested donation is $10, (all proceeds to benefit 826NYC). The film 'As Smart As They Are' documents the collaboration between McSweeney's Brooklyn house-band One Ring Zero and an ensemble cast of award-winning authors. Featuring live performances, studio sessions and interviews with the writers and musicians, the film explores the relationships between music and literature while painting a portrait of the literary community that fostered the band. Featured Players: Dave Eggers, Paul Auster, Jonathan Lethem, Rick Moody, Jonathan Ames, Myla Goldberg, Darin Strauss, Amy Fusselman, Clay McLeod Chapman & Lawrence Krauser. There's more information supplied by Gothamist.

On Tuesday 10th January 2005 curator Aitor Alonso e-mailed to say "The french magazine Livres Hebdo has made a opinion poll between two hundred booksellers across the nation, so that they choose his preferred books of the autumn. In the 'translated novel' section the chosen one was The Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster (already available everywhere except in Spain and South America; Anagrama will publish it in Spanish in 2006). The novel got the double of votes than the immediate followers. Between the most voted writers also appear in outstanding places Arto Paasilinna and Tom Sharpe. Spanish booksellers are sure that the new Auster's novel will be a very good selling book this year in my country, where the Brooklyn author's got a very loyal audience. I talk about these things at my blog, This is Brooklyn!."

Recent articles like one on Sunday 8th January 2006 entitled 'Downloadable tours help you take paths less traveled' in the Washington Post by Anne Mcdonough have reminded me that if you go to pay homage at Ground Zero there is an audio tour available by Paul Auster. "Writer Paul Auster narrates a walk through Ground Zero. Auster augments the walk by talking with historians, a poet and Mohawk ironworkers who helped build the World Trade Center."

On Sunday 8th January 2006 Cincinatti.com wrote that Doug Lowry, CCM dean, is "planning new reads of Willa Cather, Paul Auster, and the forthcoming third installment in Richard Ford's "Frank Bascombe" series that began with "The Sportswriter" and continued with "Independence Day."" I'll keep you posted.

On Thursday 15th December 2005 Gianluca Costantini sent me an e-mail with the following image and a link to Politicalcomics.

On Monday 5th December 2005 Paul Auster and Elizabeth Nunez hosted an evening of readings and discussion, saluting the winners of the 2005 PEN/Beyond Margins Award. Joining in the celebration were writers Esmeralda Santiago and Colin Channer. It was held at the Donnell Library Center: 20 West 53rd St., NYC at 7 pm.

Matthew de Ville at Faber & Faber wrote recently that they will be publishing a second volume of novels comprising of The Music of Chance, Leviathan and Mr Vertigo in December 2005.

There is a review of 'The Brooklyn Follies' by Kamran Nazeer in the December 2005 edition of 'Prospect Magazine' entitled Auster's Scrapbook'.