Items related to Hand to Mouth: A Chronicle of Early Failure
This is the story of a young man's struggle to stay afloat. By turns poignant and comic, Paul Auster's memoir is essentially an autobiographical essay about money--and what it means not to have it. From one odd job to the next, from one failed scheme to another, Auster investigates his own stubborn compulsion to make art and describes his ingenious, often far-fetched attempts to survive on next to nothing. From the streets of New York City and Paris to the rural roads of upstate New York, the author treats us to a series of remarkable adventures and unforgettable encounters and, in several elaborate appixes, to previously unknown work from these years.
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Review:
It's no wonder that Paul Auster (The Music of Chance, Leviathan, Mr. Vertigo) creates such singular characters. While his youth comprised a series of failures too unbelievable for fiction, it also equipped him with a range of experiences to draw from that most fiction writers only dream of. He worked with Bowery bums at a summer camp, had a childhood friend join the Weather Underground, and was a student at Columbia in 1968 at the height of the student uprisings there (and at which point, he boasts, he knew seven of the FBI's ten most wanted men). He worked on an oil tanker, for a French Mafia-style film producer in Paris, and for a rare-book organization in New York. He translated the North Vietnamese constitution from French into English (don't ask). His work brought him in contact to varying extents with Jean Genet, Mary McCarthy, Jerzy Kosinski, Sartre, Foucault, and John Lennon. The encounters and experiences must have been fascinating, failure aside, but Auster's prose here, sadly, lacks the tightness and luster of his fiction. The remainder--and major portion--of the volume consists of three plays, a baseball card game, and a detective novel, all written during this time.
About the Author:
Paul Auster is the author of eight novels, including the New York Trilogy. He wrote the screenplay for the internationally acclaimed film Smoke and has just finished making a new film, Lulu on the Bridge. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
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- PublisherHolt Paperbacks
- Publication date1998
- ISBN 10 0805054898
- ISBN 13 9780805054897
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages164
- Rating
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Hand to Mouth: A Chronicle of Early Failure
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Hand to Mouth: A Chronicle of Early Failure
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Book Description paperback. Condition: Very Good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!. Seller Inventory # S_399346546
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Book Description Soft cover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. 1st Edition. Auster, Paul., Henry Holt & Co. 'Owl Books', 1997, c1997, 1st pb printing, illus. soft cover (trade size paperback), near fine, 449 pp, small 8vo, ISBN: 0805054898, 'The story of a young man's struggle to stay afloat. By turns poignant and comic, Paul Auster's memoir is essentially an autobiographical essay about money - and what it means not to have it. From one odd job to the next, from one failed scheme to another, Auster investigates his own stubborn compulsion to make art, and describes his ingenious, often farfetched attempts to survive on next to nothing'. Seller Inventory # 79410
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Book Description Trade Paperback. Condition: Used. Seller Inventory # 714589
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Hand to Mouth: A Chronicle of Early Failure
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Book Description Soft cover. Condition: Near Fine. No Jacket. 1st Edition. Auster, Paul., Henry Holt & Co. 'Owl Books', 1997, c1997, 1st pb printing, illus. soft cover (trade size paperback), near fine, 449 pp, small 8vo, ISBN: 0805054898, 'The story of a young man's struggle to stay afloat. By turns poignant and comic, Paul Auster's memoir is essentially an autobiographical essay about money and what it means not to have it. From one odd job to the next, from one failed scheme to another, Auster investigates his own stubborn compulsion to make art, and describes his ingenious, often farfetched attempts to survive on next to nothing'. Seller Inventory # 86546
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Hand to Mouth: A Chronicle of Early Failure.
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Henry Holt & Company Inc., New York, NY
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Book Description Paperback. First Ed thus; First Printing indicated. REMAINDER, showing a tiny dot at the bottom edge. Else, Near Fine in Wraps: shows the mildest rubbing; binding shows slight lean, but remains perfectly secure; text clean. Virtually 'As New'. NOT a Book-Club Edition. NOT an Ex-Library copy. 8vo. 449pp. Trade Paperback. The early, unending attempts of Paul Auster to become a writer, in both the wordly and literary sense. The monumental quantity of his failures is an example to all would-be artists, of any genre, of the need to persevere in one's creative efforts. He includes three samples of his early and unsuccessful attempts, and through these examples the reader sees Auster's beginning efforts at expressing themes which he later developed fully. Not too many people are willing to expose their awkward early attempts, but by including these early examples, it gives us the extraordinary chance to compare them to their later, final form in his published works. An unusually honest and intimate look at the struggle to create, and the mindboggling tenacity it requires. First Ed thus; First Printing indicated. Seller Inventory # 35058
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Hand to Mouth: A Chronicle of Early Failure
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(1997)
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Book Description softcover. Condition: Fine copy. 1st edition. 8vo, 449 pp., First printing of the softcover edition. Seller Inventory # 085605
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Hand to Mouth: A Chronicle of Early Failure
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(1998)
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Book Description Trade Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Pb., 449 pp., appendices; very good,clean copy, tight binding. Seller Inventory # 021922
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Book Description Condition: Used - Very Good. 1998. Paperback. Very Good. Seller Inventory # DD0046304
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Hand to Mouth: A Chronicle of Early Failure
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Henry Holt and Company / Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC
(1997)
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Book Description Trade Paperback. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. First Thus. Standard used condition. Reading copy or better. Used Book. Seller Inventory # 285398
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