Review REPORT FROM THE INTERIOR by PAUL AUSTER @HenryHolt

Book Description

Publication Date: November 19, 2013

In the beginning, everything was alive. The smallest objects were endowed with beating hearts . . .


Having recalled his life through the story of his physical self in Winter Journal, internationally acclaimed novelist Paul Auster now remembers the experience of his development from within through the encounters of his interior self with the outer world in Report from the Interior.


From his baby’s-eye view of the man in the moon, to his childhood worship of the movie cowboy Buster Crabbe, to the composition of his first poem at the age of nine, to his dawning awareness of the injustices of American life, Report from the Interior charts Auster’s moral, political, and intellectual journey as he inches his way toward adulthood through the postwar 1950s and into the turbulent 1960s.


Auster evokes the sounds, smells, and tactile sensations that marked his early life—and the many images that came at him, including moving images (he adored cartoons, he was in love with films), until, at its unique climax, the book breaks away from prose into pure imagery: The final section of Report from the Interior recapitulates the first three parts, told in an album of pictures. At once a story of the times—which makes it everyone’s story—and the story of the emerging consciousness of a renowned literary artist, this four-part work answers the challenge of autobiography in ways rarely, if ever, seen before.


A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of 2013

Amazon

About the Author

PAUL AUSTER is the bestselling author of Sunset Park, Invisible, Man in the Dark, The Book of Illusions, and The New York Trilogy, among many other works. His books have been translated into forty-three languages. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

SOURCE:  PUBLISHER

MY THOUGHTS

LOVED IT

In this follow up to Auster's memoir, Winter Journal,  he continues his second person journey into his past.  Instead of more of the same, he goes more into what he was feeling while growing up and these feelings are something every baby boomer can relate to.  He has a fascinating take on the Kennedy assassination, growing up with movies and television.  Auster relates his first love, realizes that he is middle class, but not rich, and how his childhood has made him into what he is today.

This is a beautiful work, one that everyone can relate to in some way.  I think it will have more impact on the older generation since some of the memories are one that everyone shares that grew up in this time period.  The details come together much like one looks at a landscape, you notice the trees at first and then realize that there are flowers woven in.  It is all these little details that make up his life and make it so fascinating to read.  Anyone who loves memoirs, will enjoy this one.  

Disclosure  I received this book from the publisher at no charge and in no way influenced my review.  If you are considering purchasing this book or anything else from Amazon, please use my link above since I earn a very small percentage of the sale which helps pay for shipping my giveaways!  

Book Trailer Tuesday + Audio Clip WINTER JOURNAL by PAUL AUSTER @MacmillanAudio @henryholt

Book Review WINTER JOURNAL by PAUL AUSTER @HenryHolt

Book Description

Publication Date: August 21, 2012

From the bestselling novelist and author of The Invention of Solitude, a moving and highly personal meditation on the body, time, and language itself
"That is where the story begins, in your body, and everything will end in the body as well.
Facing his sixty-third winter, internationally acclaimed novelist Paul Auster sits down to write a history of his body and its sensations—both pleasurable and painful.
Thirty years after the publication of The Invention of Solitude, in which he wrote so movingly about fatherhood, Auster gives us a second unconventional memoir in which he writes about his mother's life and death. Winter Journal is a highly personal meditation on the body, time, and memory, by one of our most intellectually elegant writers.

About the Author

Paul Auster is the bestselling author of Sunset Park, Invisible, Man in the Dark, The Book of Illusions, and The New York Trilogy, among many other works. His books have been translated into forty-three languages. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (August 21, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805095535
• ISBN-13: 978-0805095531

SOURCE: PUBLISHER

MY THOUGHTS
LOVED IT

The recounting of one's life is a difficult thing to attempt, so Paul Auster uses the second person YOU in almost every sentence, which at first thought, seems like a horrible idea.  The writing is so fluid and remarkable that it won't bother you and you will wonder why no one else writes this way.  You will not want to put this book down once you start.  You will find that recounting ages and street addresses to catalogue memories is the best thing in the world.  

So, I got a little bit carried away there, but I was in awe of the stories Auster recounts, those little bits of details that almost everyone remembers like your first dog, childhood traumas, your first love and apartments.  I think I related to this book because of my age. I wonder how younger readers will react to remembrances that are universal to anyone over fifty. The book is more details linked together by age rather than a complete story of his life.  

Perhaps the most truthful and touching story in the book is his recounting of an auto accident that almost took his wife's life.  He builds up to this part by explaining what a perfect driver he is, but then lets you in on a little secret.  He has been having panic attacks and is now on medication, which in part, may be to blame for his risky driving where he turns in front of a van.  You can see his grief and hurt as his daughter and dog are safe but his wife may be gravely injured.  I really enjoyed this one and all of the touching moments he retells.