Author

Writing has always had that tactile quality for me. It's a physical experience.

If I could write directly on a typewriter or a computer, I would do it. But keyboards have always intimidated me. I've never been able to think clearly with my fingers in that position. A pen is a much more primitive instrument. You feel that the words are coming out of your body and then you dig the words into the page.

From Paul Auster

With a computer, you make your changes on the screen and then you print out a clean copy. With a typewriter, you can't get a clean manuscript unless you start again from scratch. It's an incredibly tedious process.

From Paul Auster

No book includes the entire world. It's limited. And so it doesn't seem like an aesthetic compromise to have to do that. There's so much other material to write about.

From Paul Auster

I really, truly believe that writing comes out of the body; of course, the mind is working as well, but it's a double thing and that doubleness is united. I mean, you can't separate persona from psyche; you just can't do it.

From Paul Auster

I'm living in the present, thinking about the past, hoping for the future.

From Paul Auster

Chance is an element of life. What I try to do is study what I call the mechanics of reality as carefully as I can.

From Paul Auster

I woke up one day and thought: 'I want to write a book about the history of my body.' I could justify talking about my mother because it was in her body that my body began.

From Paul Auster

Holes in the memory. You grab on to some things, others have completely disappeared.

From Paul Auster

I think if we didn't contradict ourselves, it would be awfully boring. It would be tedious to be alive.

From Paul Auster

Paul Auster

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