The Music Of Chance

English special subject Christian Viehhauser 8R Paul Auster THE MUSIC OF CHANCE The Author: Auster was born in 1947, attended Columbia University and got a Masters degree. He dropped out before he got his Ph.D. He is rumoured to have done all sorts of things after that, from working on an oil tanker to producing B movies in France. He did live in France for a while, and has translated several French works. Early in his literary career, he was known as a poet, and had several of his poems published in various literary journals. He also wrote several essays and conducted interviews with literary figures during this time.

Things began to change in the late 70s. His father died, which produced the memoir: „The Invention of Solitude“. After that he wrote novels almost exclusive, starting with „Squeeze Play“, a popular detective novel published under the name Paul Benjamin.

Recently Auster has also become interested in film.

„The Music of Chance“ was made into a movie by Phillip Haas which starred James Spader. Auster later collaborated with Wayne Wang on „Smoke“ and „Blue in the Face“, two critically acclaimed films released in 1996. „Smoke“ was based on Augie Wren's Christmas Story, a short piece originally published in the New York Times on Christmas Day, 1991. „Blue in the Face“ was a more free-form piece that was filmed without any real script. Auster is also going to be making his directorial debut later this fall with „Lulu on the Bridge“, starring Harvey Keitel. He directed the film from his original screenplay.

He lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife, the novelist Siri Hustvedt, and his two children.

Some other important poems of Paul Auster: ·         The New York Trilogy ·         In The Country of Last Things ·         Moon Palace ·         Leviathan ·         Mr. Vertigo ·         Auggie Wren´s Christmas Story · ...