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40th out of 186 books
—
54 voters
Hand to Mouth: A Chronicle of Early Failure
by
Paul Auster
Paul Auster’s Hand to Mouth: A Chronicle of Early Failure is a fascinating and often funny memoir about his early years as a writer struggling to be published, and to make enough money to survive. Leaving high school with “itchy feet” and refusing to play it safe, Auster avoided convention and the double life of steady office employment while writing. From the streets of N...more
Paperback, 176 pages
Published
August 1st 2003
by Picador
(first published 1976)
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Jul 31, 2008
Yulia
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
self-pitying hacks
God knows what impelled someone at Le Monde to call this flimsy and indifferent work "one of the most original and audacious autobiographies ever written by a writer." In fact, from its writing, you'd never guess Auster made his living as a novelist or even as a newspaper staff member reporting on hit-and-runs and smog levels. From the first line to the very last, this book is a manual on how not to write.
He had lots of experiences (none of which he deigns to mention), met many people (whom he n...more
He had lots of experiences (none of which he deigns to mention), met many people (whom he n...more
If nothing else, Paul Auster's memoir serves as a look at life in New York and Paris in the 1960's and 1970's. He describes his early professional life as a failure, but manages to live and work for some for some of the most interesting people in the artistic and literary worlds of that time. Auster comes across as cynical, bourgeois, and unthankful for his station in life.
At one point in his memoir he describes quitting studies in Paris because he doesn't want to confirm to the rigors of his e...more
At one point in his memoir he describes quitting studies in Paris because he doesn't want to confirm to the rigors of his e...more
Στο βιβλιό αυτό ο Auster αναφέρεται στον αγώνα του να εξοικονομήσει χρήματα κάνοντας διάφορες δουλειές προτού γίνει γνωστός συγγραφέας. Από νεανική ηλικία αποφασίζει να αφοσιωθεί στο γράψιμο και παράλληλα να κάνει κάποιες δουλειές που να του εξασφαλίζουν τα προς το ζην. Έτσι μπαρκάρει σε πλοίο, μεταφράζει βιβλία στο Παρίσι, φτιάχνει ένα δικό του παιχνίδι με κάρτες για baseball, και άλλες πολλές δουλειές. Το βιβλίο είναι αυτοβιογραφικό, όχι όμως η αυτοβιογραφία του Auster, με την έννοια ότι ο κορ...more
This is a 3.5 and I'm rounding up because it's Paul Auster. The first part is a memoir of his early days as a struggling author. It was beautiful written and more straight forward than a regular Paul Auster story. The rest of the book is comprised of some of his early works--two plays and a short detective story--that weren't successful before he became PAUL AUSTER, novelist. One of my friends wondered why we should read them now when they weren't any good back then, and there is something to th...more
Dec 09, 2011
Ensiform
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fiction,
non-fiction
The first 130 of 450 pages is Auster's autobiography, detailing his home life, his early jobs, his depression over not amounting to anything, and finally his first steps to the road to success as a writer. (He wrote the movie Smoke among other things.) The rest of the book is made up of some of his prose. Here 'tis:
"Laurel And Hardy Go To Heaven," which is basically Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Waiting For Godot And Building a Wall For Some Reason.
"Blackouts," a weird hard boiled version of...more
"Laurel And Hardy Go To Heaven," which is basically Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Waiting For Godot And Building a Wall For Some Reason.
"Blackouts," a weird hard boiled version of...more
I seriously loved this book, but it speaks to me personally, which it may not do for everyone. I see a lot of similarities between myself and Auster, who writes here a memoir of his life through his twenties. the narrative revolves around Auster's interest in being a writer and his journeys in youth and the way the need for solvency affected those journeys and the choices he made in life. I think it's a wonderful novel for anyone interested in becoming a writer. It outlines, in an energetic a co...more
Not really accurately subtitled, as Auster goes long stretches being fine financially. And oddly enough, he writes nothing at all about his climb out of penury. I was looking forward to him detailing his process for writing "The New York Trilogy," but the book simply peters out before this event.
The best part though, is his incredibly visceral dislike for overweight women, a gaggle of which he encounters at Big Mary's Place in Tampa, Florida. Auster describes the scene in a number of ways, some...more
The best part though, is his incredibly visceral dislike for overweight women, a gaggle of which he encounters at Big Mary's Place in Tampa, Florida. Auster describes the scene in a number of ways, some...more
I'm not sure how to rate this book because I didn't dislike it but I also don't want to say it was okay. Most of it seemed rather plain and pointless. The autobiography portion didn't really offer any great insights into anything, the baseball card game was of no interest to me, and the three plays were cringe-inducing. Having said that, the detective novel isn't the worst thing I've ever read, but it had too much about baseball in it for my liking. When it comes to baseball, I prefer none. The...more
disappointing - the first 100 or so pages were indeed autobiographical and enjoyable and you can see where he gets alot of his ideas for his novels especially the last two I've just read where there is a young male student protagonist in anguish (Moon Palace and Invisible). But then the rest of the book is made up of his early works including a failed enterprise at launching a baseball card game - none of which I read more than a few pages of. It seems that this book was just bunged together wit...more
This is a review of the title piece only. I will review the rest of the book (3 plays, a section on baseball cards and a private eye novel) at a later date.
Superb - a great example of 'keep on writing' no matter what life throws at you. It also works as a fascinating trip through a writer's life from the start almost until the point of success (it'd be nice to know about the years leading up to the classic 'New York Trilogy' for example).
I envy the man's guts and determination (and his travels),...more
Superb - a great example of 'keep on writing' no matter what life throws at you. It also works as a fascinating trip through a writer's life from the start almost until the point of success (it'd be nice to know about the years leading up to the classic 'New York Trilogy' for example).
I envy the man's guts and determination (and his travels),...more
Other reviews on here mention an edition accompanied by the full text of his early plays, but that's not this one. A slim volume, it seems to end abruptly after he publishes his first work- understandable, I guess, but somewhat jarring. I appreciated the little anecdotes but overall it felt a bit rushed and too short. I was hoping for more insight into the mind behind The New York Trilogy and The Brooklyn Follies and Mr. Vertigo, as disparate as those books are. He doesn't really give himself en...more
En este libro Paul Auster nos comparte como lo haría a un amigo: Con esa emoción que dan sus primeras experiencias para atender al llamado interior a ser escritor.
Su compartir, nos lleva por su etapa de avances y retrocesos y de cómo fué logrando sobrevivir, con la fuerte educación de unos padres que vivieron el periodo de recesión de los 20´s y donde cada uno tomó lo vivido para reaccionar en polos completamente opuestos: El padre como un hombre que no gastaba mas que en lo estrictamente necesa...more
Su compartir, nos lleva por su etapa de avances y retrocesos y de cómo fué logrando sobrevivir, con la fuerte educación de unos padres que vivieron el periodo de recesión de los 20´s y donde cada uno tomó lo vivido para reaccionar en polos completamente opuestos: El padre como un hombre que no gastaba mas que en lo estrictamente necesa...more
Jun 15, 2009
Leslie
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Leslie by:
Doug Knowlton
Shelves:
memoirs
This book by Paul Auster chronicles his early life attempts to dedicate his life to writing instead of working at some other job. He comes up with different schemes to make money, he gets married, has a child. Sometimes he gives up and takes a job, other times Auster and his wife support themselves by translating French literature into English. He works very hard, trying to preseve his time and energy for what he knows his calling is.
Auster's writing is wonderful. His use of words is spare, even...more
Auster's writing is wonderful. His use of words is spare, even...more
I read several Auster novels back in the day and really enjoyed his stuff. I was keen to read his short (125 pp.) autobiography, with its Down and Out in Paris and London similarities. But, unlike Orwell's marvelous account of the travails of poverty, Auster's piece is introspective and lacking in conviction. The whole project assembled here seems more like something Auster did for himself, rather than an offering to readers. Somehow the text professes indifference: he doesn't really care if we...more
تمام ماجراهای کتاب حول محور " فرضیه پردازی غلط " می چرخد. پل استر بنا بر این اصل که پول در برابر ایده ها و نقشه های ذهنی فاقد اصالت است، به دنبال خواسته ها و ایده آل هایش می رود.
سوالی که بعد از خواندن مطرح شد این بود که آیا حقیقتا راهی برای تشخیص غلط یا درست بودن تک تک فرضیه هایمان وجود دارد؟
به هر حال چالش هایی که استر با آن ها دست به گریبان است، بسیار ملموس هستند و او خیلی شرافتمندانه از پسشان بر آمده است. به نظر من بخش قابل توجهی از کتاب حذف شده است. هیچ جا از روابط عاطفی نویسنده صحبتی نشده ا...more
سوالی که بعد از خواندن مطرح شد این بود که آیا حقیقتا راهی برای تشخیص غلط یا درست بودن تک تک فرضیه هایمان وجود دارد؟
به هر حال چالش هایی که استر با آن ها دست به گریبان است، بسیار ملموس هستند و او خیلی شرافتمندانه از پسشان بر آمده است. به نظر من بخش قابل توجهی از کتاب حذف شده است. هیچ جا از روابط عاطفی نویسنده صحبتی نشده ا...more
Classic Auster. I enjoyed learning more about the author's eccentric early years, from his family life as a kid to his wanderlust-inflected early adulthood. There were several appendices that included early works of his, unfortunately I could not read the plays because I despise reading plays. However, one of the appendices was an early detective novel that he wrote. This is not a type of book I generally I read but I found it clever and very likable.
Worth reading if you're an Auster enthusiast. Some biographical stuff here makes its way into his fiction later, and there are little nuggets featuring other literary personalities and what not.
But there's nothing exceptional about the writing of this book, or about most of the content. I love Auster's fiction and several of his later essays and even some of his critical writing, but these two early memoirs did little for me.
But there's nothing exceptional about the writing of this book, or about most of the content. I love Auster's fiction and several of his later essays and even some of his critical writing, but these two early memoirs did little for me.
In addition to Auster's autobiographical "Hand to Mouth: A Chronicle of Early Failure" the book contains three appendixes, examples of Auster's failed attempts to make a buck. The autobiography proper felt too short, but it was well-written and at times amusing ("...I reached into my briefcase and took out the cigar box. Contempt flickered in his eyes. It was as if I had just handed him a dog turd and asked him to smell it.") I happened upon this book at a time when I needed to be reminded that...more
An engaging memoir, very funny and at times bleak in terms of Austers' despair over making a living as a writer and nothing else -- which he was determined to do against all odds. But the memoir takes up little of the book itself, strangely -- it's largely devoted to previously unpublished work. Of this, I really liked the play "Blackouts" (surreal), and the novella "Squeeze Play", a classic detective story.
Entertaining, but ends on a rather abrupt note and seems to gloss over the most important parts of the story (e.g., his worst 18 months, the break-up of his marriage, and what he did with his inheritance). Ultimately, the book does not feel true; it feels more like the truth the author wants to push onto you about his early life and times.
This book it´s really good. It is about Paul Auster, so if you don´t like him and you have stories about writing, don´t read it.
He is my favourite author, so for me it was pretty good. And, I´m trying to understand what I want to do for a living, so this it was really helpful.
It is about him and his lifetime.
He is my favourite author, so for me it was pretty good. And, I´m trying to understand what I want to do for a living, so this it was really helpful.
It is about him and his lifetime.
I agree on the whole with Ruth's review. I'd add that even the memoir part wasn't great, as he kept 'almost' telling stories, but then never even bothering to give details. I read the first page of the first play in the appendix (the bulk of the book) and gave up. Who cares about reading crap that was a failure and too awful to be published in the first place?!
A pathetic self-serving attempt by an otherwise very good writer. There is nothing of worth in this memoir. For a person of Auster's literary stature, I am surprised he would want this out there. It just was not that interesting and it was written as chronological straight reportage. In the long run, this will not help Auster's standing in the literary canon.
Paul Auster is one of my favorite writers. This short memoir is very readable but feels less polished than any of his novels. Interesting characters and incidents come and go, tied together only by the fact that they fail to lead to anything substantial. That's life, I guess.
«دست به دهان» به یک معنا داستان است و به یک معنا داستان نیست. کتاب روایت اتوبیوگرافیک «پل استر» است از زندگی، شکستها و موفقیتهایش، از تلاشش برای نوشتن و نویسنده شدن و زیستن؛ به قول خودش «گاه شمار شکستهای نخستین» اوست.
http://changizi.blogfa.com/post-723.aspx
http://changizi.blogfa.com/post-723.aspx
Ik heb enkel deel 1 gelezen, 'Portret van een onzichtbare man', een mooi portret van Austers overleden vader.
Deel 2, 'Het Boek der Herinnering', was me veel te moeilijk en ik zag het verband niet zo direct met deel 1.
De rating is op basis van deel 1 dus.
Deel 2, 'Het Boek der Herinnering', was me veel te moeilijk en ik zag het verband niet zo direct met deel 1.
De rating is op basis van deel 1 dus.
It's the first time I read something from Auster and I think he must have better works. I like how he writes, but even though I liked it, it wasn't one of the best books I've read. I still have some more works from him to read and I hope those are better.
Auster writes in a voice that speaks to me. The first half of this is great, the second half is so-so. Came across a feature on him in a waiting recently and it reminded me that I always meant to read more from him.
I thought this book would be comforting to me, as I was a hopeless and unemployed new graduate when I read it. Made me feel so much worse! He was consistently employed at interesting jobs, and going to Paris and crap.
It is nice to read about such a brilliant and successful person failing miserably and repeatedly at my age. I loved the New York Trilogy, and the fact that he wrote that later in life after a divorce and a decade of living right on the edge of complete fiscal meltdown.
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Paul Auster is the bestselling author of Sunset Park, Invisible, Man in the Dark, The Book of Illusions, The Brooklyn Follies, and The New York Triology, among many other works. His books have been translated into forty-three languages. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/paulau...
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“But money, of course, is never just money. It's always
something else, and it's always something more, and
it always has the last word.”
—
1 person liked it
More quotes…
something else, and it's always something more, and
it always has the last word.”
Mar 19, 2013 03:09am