Faber, 160pp, £25
‘Part memoir, part essay’, Auster's book offers a reflection on the role that the gun has played in [American] history, society and the novelist's own life,’ wrote. For example, we discover ‘that while there were no guns in the Auster home, there was a significant, if rarely mentioned, gun death in the family's history: his grandmother shot his estranged grandfather in front of his uncle.’