Paul Auster, renowned author, dies two years after deaths of son and granddaughter

Iconic author Paul Auster has died at the age of 77 from lung cancer complications.

His death was confirmed by his friend and fellow author Jacki Lyden, who said Paul died on Tuesday. He was best known for his award-winning novels, The New York Trilogy. He authored 34 books in total, with his last – Baumgartner – being released last year.

Other titles he penned included Burning Boy: The Life ans Work of Stephen Crane.

According to Joyce Caroll Oates in 2010, he had a “highly stylised, quirkily riddlesome postmodernist fiction in which narrators are rarely other than unreliable and the bedrock of plot is continually shifting”.

Paul’s death comes just two years after tragedy struck his family as his son and baby granddaughter died. In April 2022, Daniel Auster died after a drug overdose at the age of 44. He was found unconscious on a subway platform and sadly died six days later.

His death came days after he had been charged in the death of his 10-month-old daughter. Investigators at the time said the infant died from acute intoxication of heroin and fentanyl.

Daniel said in his deposition that he had used heroin before taking a nap with his daughter and woke up to find her dead.

Following the news of Paul’s death, fans took to Twitter/X to share messages of condolence. One user wrote: “Oh man, so sad to hear about Paul Auster passing. Timbuktu is the greatest dog book ever, and I loved the Book Of Illusions with all my heart. Full of gratitude for his contributions, fly on Paul Auster.”

Another added: “Devastated to hear Paul Auster passed, one of my favorite contemporary authors, whose prose was matched only by his four-dimensional imagination. He’ll be missed dearly. May he rest in peace.”