Event Driveby: Paul Auster w/ Stephen Elliott

Posted on January 26, 2006 by Tito

Last night, I went to see Paul Auster in conversation with Stephen Elliott as part the City Arts & Lectures series. Previously I’ve seen Umberto Eco and Rick Moody with David Foster Wallace as part of the series. Following is a hit-and-run down of the evening, through the prism of my memory. No names were changed, because nobody is innocent (spelling errors notwithstanding)

Stephen Elliott and Paul Auster, in conversation. 25JAN2006

(more after the break)


My friend Gaston organized this outing so it was a pleasant surprise to see Stephen Elliott, who I quite like, hosting the event. This pleasant mood went down a notch when he described Brooklyn Follies as a “masterpiece” during his brief introduction. [I admit to being an ignoramus of the first degree when it comes to Auster, having only read BF. Gaston did leave me with his copy of The New York Trilogy, and I look forward to reading it.] Overall, I think Elliott did a good job with the event - my only real complaint is that he did not reign in Auster when he went on (and on) about his daughter’s gifts for singing, drawing and apparently everything.

Elliott commented that he is (was?) working to put together a collection of politically minded short fiction, but was astonished to find that all submissions were from “the left”, and that he was trying to get a “balance” of writers. Auster supposed that Tom Wolfe might be a Republican. Auster also hypothesized that (objective) writers can only come to the conclusion when looking at America that there is a great deal of pain, suffering & idiocy and that only those without a vested interest in the status quo would write not about it with a liberal view. (This after commenting how writers in the US have “great freedom, but little power”). Followed up with required discussions about how much more well-read Europeans are.

PA says that (most?) writers are “damaged” people, for whom “the world is not enough”.

PA is currently working on a movie “The Inner Life of Martin Frost”, earlier found in his novel “The Book of Illusions”. Later he admits that he’d written a treatment that was tabled, later to be added to the book. Elliott comments on the humor of Auster writing a movie, to be included in a book about a man writing a movie, later to be made into a movie by the man who wrote the book (or something). I could feel the minor tremors of the pomo-ers in the audience creaming their pants.

Elliott asks Paul Auster about working with musicians, which leads to Auster talking about the band One Ring Zero and that he wrote a song for their ablum “As Smart As We Are”. This also served as the departure point for him going on about his daughter - who also has a record out.

February 27th has been declared Paul Auster Day in Brooklyn. I cannot shake Mayor Quimby from my mind for the remainder of the evening. Apparently, Brooklyn’s borough offices are in a lovely building. Some time ago there was a man platering Aiuster’s neighborhood with posters in search of an email so he could give Auster some cigars. Eventually, Auster has a local bookstore act as a go-between for the exchange. The cigars got got, but he never met his Turkish admirer.

Auster had written a book, “Squeeze Play” under the pseudonymn Paul Benjamin.

Auster spent some time discussing chance versus fate, rather aimlessly, in my opinion.

During the Q&A I was treated to one of the more bizarre (and specific) questions I’ve ever heard at an author event. One audience member - apparently from Auster’s high school - noted that Auster seems to have an appreciation for baseball, and would he please write his next book about “an existential baseball player” who disappears & reappears (unclear). Auster said that would be unlikely.

My only major complaint for the evening is that there was not much specific discussion of Brooklyn Follies, apparently because they didn’t want to give anything away to audience members who may have not yet read the book. They could have at least read a passage for discussion - SOP for an author event, as far as I know.

Auster’s physical & vocal style reminded me a lof the neighbor guy from the Tool Time show who always wears a fishing hat.

Also:

Paul Auster was on NPR discussing his latest book.

KQED rebroadcasts City Arts & Lectures events. Perhaps this one will air someday.

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Comments

2 Responses to “Event Driveby: Paul Auster w/ Stephen Elliott”

  1. Pinky's Paperhaus on January 26th, 2006 11:12 pm

    Everybody’s getting Frey’d…

    So tonight Paul Auster hit LA in conversation with the David Ulin. Sounds like the only thing we got that San Francisco didn’t get came from Ulin, who said it had been a busy day; he’d been finishing this Sunday’s…

  2. Robert Ellis on February 7th, 2006 1:11 pm

    Thanks for this report. I’m an Auster fan. I read the trilogy before anything else and was completely absorbed by it; I think it’s his best.

    FYI, the Rick Moody and David Foster Wallace CA&L program you wrote about previously is finally going to be broadcast this Sunday at 1:00 on KQED.