Born in Newark, Auster was raised in South Orange before graduating from Columbia High School in Maplewood. He initially garnered attention after publishing his memoir "The Invention of Solitude," which discussed his father's death.
Auster's most acclaimed work came next: "The New York Trilogy," a series of three novels including "City of Glass," "Ghosts" and "The Locked Room," mixing post modernism with detective fiction. The trilogy was listed as one of the 25 most significant New York City novels over the last 100 years in a New York Times style magazine.
Auster wrote a mix of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, and also wrote the screenplay for the 1995 film "Smoke," winning an Independent Spirit Award.
Critically acclaimed, he won several literary awards in France and his novel "The Music of Chance," was shortlisted for a PEN/Faulkner Award. In 2017, his novel "4 3 2 1" was shortlisted for a Booker Prize.
Auster is survived by his wife, Siri, his daughter, Sophie, his sister, Janet and his grandson, Miles, according to the New York Times.
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