Report from the Interior

By Paul Auster

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.
     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; his heady days as a graduate student in Paris, writing letters to the woman who would become his first wife, Report from the Interior charts Auster's moral, political and intellectual journey as he inches his way toward adulthood through the post-war fifties 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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Nov 19, 2013
• ISBN: 9780771009082

Paul Auster

Paul Auster was the bestselling author of 4 3 2 1, Bloodbath Nation, Baumgartner, The Book of Illusions, and The New York Trilogy, among many other works. In 2006 he was awarded the Prince of Asturias Prize for Literature. Among his other honors are the Prix Médicis Étranger for Leviathan, the Independent Spirit Award for the screenplay of Smoke, and the Premio Napoli for Sunset Park. In 2012, he was the first recipient of the NYC Literary Honors in the category of fiction. He was also a finalist for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award (The Book of Illusions), the PEN/Faulkner Award (The Music of Chance), the Edgar Award (City of Glass), and the Man Booker Prize (4 3 2 1). Auster was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and a Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. His work has been translated into more than forty languages. He died at age seventy-seven in 2024.

Reviews for Report from the Interior

[emresevinc · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What a sublime pleasure to get a glimpse into the personal fragments of one the quintessential American writers of our times. This might not be Auster at his best, but who cares, it is Auster after all: flowing sentences wrapped up in a psychology that some of us might know only too well. The book is like a time capsule, with messages that are ready to be decoded differently by different readers, hopefully not first-time-Auster-readers, just to enhance the pleasure a little more. For me, it is impossible not to relate to my childhood memories, necessarily reconstructed, again and again, always imperfect and dependent on the context: Some of the pages sounding and smelling almost like home, some of them pretty alien. His childhood imagination of the great wars replaced with my remembering of horrors of the smaller ones.The references to his other books trigger many other memories: this is Auster reshaping my memories of reading them; in an apartment flat that had been the location to so many weird adventures, on a airplane with full of passengers and false hopes. Memories of giving Auster books as gifts. Memories of talking about those books. Memories of remembering those conversations."There is nothing so depressing as to watch an uninspired stripper", and there's nothing like reading Auster, reporting from the past and the interior, after having tasted already this strong and beautiful spirit of literature, not only to be read but also savoured.

[richard4greenfield · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I'm always intrigued with Paul Auster, and I admit he is one of my favorite writers (though there have been some duds over the years, like Timbuktu, or Brooklyn Follies). This one reminded me of the Hunger Artist or Winter Journal. I disagree with the negative reviews, particularly on the second section of the book, with the retelling of The incredible Shrinking Man and other film plots. The act of retelling a movie is not so much ekphrasis as revealing the particular subjectivity of Auster that was formed in having seen a film. I also didn't find the letters indulgent, and what's so irritating about the use of second person? A pronoun is merely rhetorical. The second person creates distance and mirroring. Auster here is indulging in memoir, but he's doing it in fresh experimental ways.

[lriley_43 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've read several of Paul Auster's fictional works over the years. This is the first non-fiction work of his that I've read. Anyway the book focuses a lot around his childhood up through his college years. As a child describing his parents estrangement from each other--the love of baseball or the movies that seemed to make a huge impression on him. Auster very skillfully portrays the 50's and 60's through the impressionable eyes of a younger version of himself. To me the first two thirds of the book or so are very profound in that way. The last part of the book has him sorting through the love letters he sent to his ex-wife and novelist/translator Lydia Davis before their marriage. To me this was the least interesting part of the book. I also found it strange that there seemed to be a gap between 1962 and say 1965 because as the book goes along he often will describe what's going on. In this case there are no references for instance to the JFK, MLK, RFK assassinations. Overall it's a good book and worth the time to read. I did enjoy--I just think in some respects it's a bit incomplete which is par for the course for a memoir.

[jamieschecter · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I've started to read memoirs and biographies more and more recently and so I was excited when I got an early copy of Report from the Interior by Paul Auster. It is not your typical memoir. To start, Auster approaches the telling of his life as though he is reading the story to himself. The use of second person throughout the whole book loses it's charm by the second half of the book, but it's not annoying. The first part of the book recounts his childhood. There are interesting parts and some cute stories, like the time his teacher accused him of lying about his reading progress and he was so hurt that his honor had been questioned that he erupted in tears. I think I liked this section the best. The second part of the book recounts a couple of movies that had a deep influence on him. Honestly, this part felt like a glorified IMDB synopsis. If this had been handed in as a report in high school, my teacher would have marked it "too much summary." There's some talk about why these movies stood out and were important in his development, but most of it gives a summary of movies I haven't seen yet. The final written part was a section of love letters between a young Auster and Lydia Davis. You see Auster's descent into depression and his eventual rise out of it. I feel like a few of these letters could have been removed since there's only so much I can read about an overly analytical 20-something's long-distance relationship. The last part was a photo album which I felt didn't really add to the story. Overall, I was disappointed, but the book didn't bore me to tears and wasn't necessarily bad. Not my cup of tea, I guess.

[laurenkaz_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I was so excited to receive a copy of Report from the Interior from a LibraryThing Early Reviewers giveaway. I love Paul Auster's writing. His books are always unusual, but that is what makes his writing so good! Unfortunately, I wasn't very engaged in this autobiographical work. The first section of the book recounts random memories from his early childhood, some of the memories building upon each other. The next section entitled "Two Blows to the Head" completely lost me as it was entirely a synopsis of some classic films that Auster had watched in the theater. I hadn't seen either of the films, so reading about these films was rather dull. The next section entitled "Time Capsule" was a collection of letters that Auster, while in his early 20's, had written to his then girlfriend. This section held my interest more than the last section, but still not his most interesting work. The last chunk of the book is a collection of photographs that relate to the previous sections. I guess I'm not sure what was the point of this book. I prefer his fictional work to his nonfiction work, I suppose. It was interesting in parts, but look to other Paul Auster works if you have yet to discover his writing.

[ivan0frade · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It is not fiction but it is still Paul Auster.I am big fan of his fiction books and memories told in second person didn't sound too promising. It took me ~30 pages to get into it but then I could not stop. Auster is a great story-teller and it shows. He is able to weave a compelling narrative from the small and big recalls from his childhood to his early 20s.In his usual simple and straigh-forward prose, he gives us a glimpse of American life in 50s and 60s from an average citizen and an unique description of the struggles as an incipient writer.It was a very positive surprise and I wouldn't mind to continue reading in this infamous second-person about his life afterwards.

[libsue · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I love the writing of Paul Auster. Having said that you can skip this book. It is disjointed and Auster spends far too much of the book describing in detail two movies he found pivitol in his youth. Once Auster begins to revisit his college years we are reminded why some college kids are insufferable- full of themselves, and just annoying.Please read something, anything else he's written and forgive this book.

[bobbieharv · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

You loved Winter's Tale, and figured this could even be better, billed as it was as a report of how his life felt from the inside. Well, it started out like that, and was quite good, but about a third of the way through he seems to have run out of steam, taking you not only outside of himself but way far away, into the plots of two movies, one of which takes him 40 pages to recount. Still not done, with pages to go, he decides to copy down his letters to his girlfriend, at which point his use of the second person throughout, which has been getting rather tiring, is jarringly juxtaposed with the "you" of the letters, which of course refers to the girlfriend.Then, finally, still not done, he concludes with pages of blurry black and white photos, many devoted to the movie again, with which you are already thoroughly bored."Contrived" is the word you used for "Invisible," the only novel you've read by Auster. Contrived this was too - and it will be your last book by him.

[michaelg16 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I read this "memoir" in one sitting and then reread much of it trying to figure out if I enjoyed it or was bored to death by it. A little of both. I love books like this but in many ways this is not "a book like this". It is almost as if Auster's publisher said give me something -however scattered - by next week and we will publish it. Still, it is Paul Auster so there is much to be enjoyed here and a new reader should be encouraged to explore him deeply. Even half-baked he is a small delicious treat to be savored.

[objectplace · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I could read the first 100+ pages again and again. Reading this with Lydia Davis is like creative couples therapy.

[bibleblaster · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This is rare for me. Most Auster books I've read (and I've read most Auster books) would get 3 stars or above. (Many would rate 4 stars.) So I was ready to love this, in it's Audible edition with Auster reading...but, it was fragmented and sometimes felt pointless. I really liked Winter Journal--this is meant to be a companion volume to that--but this didn't hold together as well from my perspective. The movie summaries were entertaining; the initial chapter, charting a young boy's thoughts and perceptions, were wonderful; but it quickly grew self-indulgent and rambling. The discovery of letters to his first wife, Lydia Davis, was, no doubt, important to Auster...not so much to the rest of us. In summation: read Paul Auster's novels! Let this one go.

[esta1923 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Early Reviewer~~ "Report From the Interior" by Paul AusterIn his "Report From the Interior" Paul Auster revisits his childhood, annotates letters he'd written from 1966-1969, and shares with readers a photo album that illustrates the life he has remembered.I was struck by his sentence: "In spite of the outward evidence, you are still who you were, even if you are no longer the same person." I am twenty-four years older than Auster but many of his childhood experiences were also mine. Reading his second section, with details of movies, I hear my voice doing the same. Auster says he had started this book before he unexpectedly received letters he had written to his ex-wife from 1966-1969. Including them (with only a few footnotes) perhaps shows us a somewhat different person than he had planned. The picture album is truly a treasure: from the man in the moon to sandwiches at Ratner's it reviews the life Auster has shared with his readers, interior and (a bit ) exterior too.

[amaryann21 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is an autobiographical work from Auster. One gets the sense of being on a journey with Auster, sharing his revelations with him. It is written in the second person, which is intriguing and a little strange. One gets the sense that Auster was looking at himself remotely, to assume the reader's point of view, or to somehow distance himself from his past. The last section is a collection of letters and commentary from his college years, written to his former wife. Auster observes his development through the letters and his temperament as an artist shows through loud and clear. The book is interesting and easy to read. I think it would most appeal to those who are interested in writing and the personal lives of authors.

[edwinbcn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

After the Winter journal described the aging of the body, as an original approach to biography, Report from the interior is Paul Auster's latest publication. It consists of a collection of three texts, each autobiographical: "Report from the interior", "Two blows to the head" and "Time capsule". The quality of these three texts differs greatly, making Report from the interior as a whole a very unbalanced book.Innovation is not always the way to go. The first text, "Report from the interior" is an autobiographical text, but written in the second person singular "you". This is an appropriate form, as it creates some distance, which benefits the text, as writing about one's earliest youth could have become very tacky and awkward if written in the first person singular. While "Report from the interior" is written as an autobiography of Paul Auster is can almost be read as an autobiography of any (American) "everyman". The text is simulateously as description of the author's youth, as it is a cultural analysis of growing up in the United States through the 1950s and 60s. Many television programmes, films and other cultural landmarks line the "curriculum vitae" of young Paul. Most of "Report from the interior" is still interesting to non-American readers as many television series and films were also aired in other countries, although, possibly, with a time lag. The first part of the book is illustrated with more than 50 pages black-and-white illustrations, referring to American visual culture. In the paperback edition these illustrations are included at the back of the book. Had they been inserted in the text, they would almost have outnumbered the pages with text. Added at the back, however, they are oddly disconnected. It feels like cheap filling."Two blows to the head" is the most disappointing section of the book, of almost 75 pages effortless filler. In the first few pages the author asserts that the movie "The incredible shrinking man (1957) had a decisive influence of the author. The following 70+ pages are a detailed retelling of the film. This section is just a waste, a loose filler-up of the most uninteresting twaddle. Supposedly a re-telling does not infringe on the copyright of the film, but it seems the cheapest trick by Auster to date.However, any of the weakness of the book is made up for in the last section of the book, entitled "Time capsule". This is an engaging piece of relatively conventional autobiographical narrative. It offers a full experience of Auster's rich life experience, his experience in France and his development as a novelist. It makes up for any of the short-comings of the book as a whole.

[rosecityreader · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I have mixed reactions to this new memoir from a Paul Auster. His observations and his life make for a good story, but the second-person narration (referring to himself as “you”) is off-putting and, eventually, annoying. And just when I got so I could ignore the style enough to appreciate the substance, Auster turns from a biography of his childhood to describing, in great detail, the plots of movies he watched. It is possible to glean interesting bits from Report from the Interior, but it was an overall disappointment.