Book Review - 'Invisible' by Paul Auster

Here’s a bold stylist who deliberately broke the rules

I lament the recent passing of Paul Auster, who fought lung cancer for the past two years. He was 77.

I may have commented here that years ago I spotted him having breakfast in a Brooklyn coffee shop. He was reading a newspaper - emphasis on paper. I thought about approaching him and simply saying I admired him. I wouldn’t have been so brash as to ask him to read any of my work. But I might have been bold enough to suggest he give my regards to Harvey Keitel. I didn’t know the actor, but I’d had several conversations with his assistant and submitted a couple of scripts. I knew they were close friends, dating at least as far back as Keitel’s starring role in the indie movie Smoke, adapted by Auster from his novel and co-produced with Wayne Wang.

Here’s my review of Invisible.

First off, there are many books with the title Invisible. Make sure you get the right one. Paul Auster writes fascinating literary novels, which are often baffling. This book presents four interwoven versions of the same story as told by different narrators.

Invisible by Paul Auster (Henry Holt). Perhaps confusing, the book has been published in multiple editions, all with different covers, and there are books by other authors with the same title.

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