Report From the Interior

Another memoir, another day for Paul Auster - "Report From The Interior" is the latest. From the bestselling author, and famed Brooklyn resident, comes another look at his life and everything that comprises all of its twists, turns, tweaks and maybe even tumbles.

Known for his work "Sunset Park" and "Winter Journal," this book comes as a surprise to his die-hard fans. The man said himself that it has become harder to come up with great ideas, so perhaps settling for non-fiction helped with that outcry. But unfortunately it couldn't save a drowning man. He has won many awards including the Prince of Asturias Prize for Literature, the Prix M�dicis �tranger, the Independent Spirit Award, and the Premio Napoli, but the man himself is only marginally fascinating. Or perhaps it is just his representation of the real self in a book that is less interesting than the characters he usually creates for readers to love, hate, despise and admire.

Yes he is also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres but he's just not that interesting in a memoir. His creative mind and creative fiction work are superb, but as a memoir the book raises half a side interest. It's not that his childhood, or views on the Vietnam War or his childhood love for a movie cowboy isn't "nice enough" because it is. Even his time in Paris is sort of interesting enough. But it's just not worth sitting for hours indulging in it page by page.

The man can write, and that is true if ever, but the content here fails to amaze. It feels recycled and revised too many times and unfortunately with too many books out at the same time this could easily, I would think, be the case.

"Report From The Interior"
Paul Auster
$7.19
Picador