Here and Now: Letters (2008-2011)

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Authors: Paul Auster,J. M. Coetzee

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Here and Now: Letters (2008-2011)
Paul Auster J. M. Coetzee
Viking (2013)
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Tags: Literary Collections, Letters, General, American, Literary Criticism, African
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The high-spirited correspondence between
New York Times
bestselling author Paul Auster and Nobel laureate J. M. Coetzee

Although Paul Auster and J. M. Coetzee had been reading each other’s books for years, the two writers did not meet until February 2008. Not long after, Auster received a letter from Coetzee, suggesting they begin exchanging letters on a regular basis and, “God willing, strike sparks off each other.”

Here and Now
is the result of that proposal: the epistolary dialogue between two great writers who became great friends. Over three years their letters touched on nearly every subject, from sports to fatherhood, film festivals to incest, philosophy to politics, from the financial crisis to art, death, family, marriage, friendship, and love.

Their correspondence offers an intimate and often amusing portrait of these two men as they explore the complexities of the here and now and is a reflection of two sharp intellects whose pleasure in each other’s friendship is apparent on every page.

**

ALSO BY PAUL AUSTER

The Invention of Solitude

The New York Trilogy

In the Country of Last Things

Moon Palace

The Music of Chance

Leviathan

Mr. Vertigo

Smoke & Blue in the Face

Hand to Mouth

Lulu on the Bridge

Timbuktu

The Book of Illusions

Collected Poems

The Red Notebook

Oracle Night

Collected Prose

The Brooklyn Follies

Travels in the Scriptorium

The Inner Life of Martin Frost

Man in the Dark

Invisible

Sunset Park

Winter Journal

ALSO BY J. M. COETZEE

Dusklands

In the Heart of the Country

Waiting for the Barbarians

Life & Times of Michael K

Foe

White Writing

Age of Iron

Doubling the Point: Essays and Interviews

The Master of Petersburg

Giving Offense

Boyhood: Scenes from Provincial Life

The Lives of Animals

Disgrace

Stranger Shores: Essays 1986–1999

Youth

Elizabeth Costello

Slow Man

Inner Workings

Diary of a Bad Year

Summertime

VIKING

Published by the Penguin Group

Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street,

New York, New York 10014, U.S.A.

USA / Canada / UK / Ireland / Australia / New Zealand / India / South Africa / China

Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

For more information about the Penguin Group visit penguin.com

 

First published in 2013 by Viking Penguin,

a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

 

Copyright © Paul Auster, 2013.

Copyright © J. M. Coetzee, 2013.

All rights reserved.

 

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed

or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

 

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Auster, Paul, 1947–

Here and now : letters (2008-2011) / Paul Auster and J. M. Coetzee.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-1-101-60627-8

1. Auster, Paul, 1947—Correspondence. 2. Authors, American—20th century—Correspondence. 3. Coetzee, J. M., 1940—Correspondence. 4. Authors, South African—20th century—Correspondence. I. Coetzee, J. M., 1940– II. Title.

PS3551.U77Z48 2013

816'.54—dc23

2012039755

Contents

Also by Paul Auster

Also by J. M. Coetzee

Title Page

Copyright

 

July 14–15, 2008

Brooklyn, July 29, 2008

September 12, 2008

Brooklyn, September 22, 2008

October 28, 2008

December 6, 2008

December 9, 2008

December 14, 2008

December 30, 2008

December 30, 2008

January 1, 2009

January 5, 2009

Hôtel d’Aubusson, Paris, January 10, 2009

January 26, 2009

Brooklyn, February 2, 2009

March 15, 2009

Brooklyn, March 16, 2009

April 6, 2009

April 8, 2009

April 24, 2009

April 25, 2009

May 11, 2009

May 11, 2009

May 27, 2009

July 6, 2009

August 24, 2009

August 29, 2009

September 13, 2009

September 26, 2009

Brooklyn, September 29, 2009

October 1, 2009

October 9, 2009

October 10, 2009

October 14, 2009

October 23, 2009

November 2, 2009

November 13, 2009

November 22, 2009

December 15, 2009

December 18, 2009

January 7, 2010

January 12, 2010

February 19, 2010

February 23, 2010

March 29, 2010

April 7, 2010

April 17, 2010

April 20, 2010

May 11, 2010

July 4, 2010

July 5, 2010

July 19, 2010

July 21, 2010

July 29, 2010

July 29, 2010

August 18, 2010

Nantucket, August 21, 2010

September 4, 2010

September 6, 2010

October 21, 2010

October 22, 2010

November 11, 2010

November 12, 2010

November 29, 2010

December 3, 2010

January 19, 2011

January 28, 2011

March 3, 2011

March 7, 2011

March 8, 2011

March 14, 2011

March 28, 2011

April 7, 2011

April 22, 2011

May 24, 2011

May 5, 2011

May 31, 2011

June 14, 2011

August 29, 2011

Contents

Also by Paul Auster

Also by J. M. Coetzee

Title Page

Copyright

 

July 14–15, 2008

Brooklyn, July 29, 2008

September 12, 2008

Brooklyn, September 22, 2008

October 28, 2008

December 6, 2008

December 9, 2008

December 14, 2008

December 30, 2008

December 30, 2008

January 1, 2009

January 5, 2009

Hôtel d’Aubusson, Paris, January 10, 2009

January 26, 2009

Brooklyn, February 2, 2009

March 15, 2009

Brooklyn, March 16, 2009

April 6, 2009

April 8, 2009

April 24, 2009

April 25, 2009

May 11, 2009

May 11, 2009

May 27, 2009

July 6, 2009

August 24, 2009

August 29, 2009

September 13, 2009

September 26, 2009

Brooklyn, September 29, 2009

October 1, 2009

October 9, 2009

October 10, 2009

October 14, 2009

October 23, 2009

November 2, 2009

November 13, 2009

November 22, 2009

December 15, 2009

December 18, 2009

January 7, 2010

January 12, 2010

February 19, 2010

February 23, 2010

March 29, 2010

April 7, 2010

April 17, 2010

April 20, 2010

May 11, 2010

July 4, 2010

July 5, 2010

July 19, 2010

July 21, 2010

July 29, 2010

July 29, 2010

August 18, 2010

Nantucket, August 21, 2010

September 4, 2010

September 6, 2010

October 21, 2010

October 22, 2010

November 11, 2010

November 12, 2010

November 29, 2010

December 3, 2010

January 19, 2011

January 28, 2011

March 3, 2011

March 7, 2011

March 8, 2011

March 14, 2011

March 28, 2011

April 7, 2011

April 22, 2011

May 24, 2011

May 5, 2011

May 31, 2011

June 14, 2011

August 29, 2011

HERE AND NOW

July 14–15, 2008

Dear Paul,

I have been thinking about friendships, how they arise, why they last—some of them—so long, longer than the passional attachments of which they are sometimes (wrongly) considered to be pale imitations. I was about to write a letter to you about all of this, starting with the observation that, considering how important friendships are in social life, and how much they mean to us, particularly during childhood, it is surprising how little has been written on the subject.

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