Baumgartner Audiobook By Paul Auster cover art

Baumgartner

A Novel

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Baumgartner

By: Paul Auster
Narrated by: Paul Auster
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Paul Auster’s brilliant 18th novel opens with a scorched pot of water, which Sy Baumgartner—phenomenologist, noted author, and soon-to-be retired philosophy professor–has just forgotten on the stove.

Baumgartner’s life had been defined by his deep, abiding love for his wife, Anna, who was killed in a swimming accident nine years earlier. Now 71, Baumgartner continues to struggle to live in her absence as the novel sinuously unfolds into spirals of memory and reminiscence, delineated in episodes spanning from 1968, when Sy and Anna meet as broke students working and writing in New York, through their passionate relationship over the next 40 years, and back to Baumgartner’s youth in Newark and his Polish-born father’s life as a dress-shop owner and failed revolutionary.

Rich with compassion, wit, and Auster’s keen eye for beauty in the smallest, most transient moments of ordinary life, Baumgartner asks: Why do we remember certain moments and forget others? In one of his most luminous works and his first novel since the Booker-shortlisted tour-de-force 4 3 2 1, Paul Auster captures several lifetimes.

©2023 Paul Auster. Portions of this book were first published in Harper’s Magazine and Literary Hub. Recorded by arrangement with Grove Press, an imprint of Grove Atlantic, Inc. (P)2023 Audible, Inc. Genre Fiction Sagas Fiction

About the Creator and Performer

Paul Auster is the bestselling author of 4 3 2 1, Sunset Park, The Book of Illusions, Moon Palace, and The New York Trilogy, among many other works. In 2006, he was awarded the Prince of Asturias Prize for Literature. His other honors include the Prix Médicis étranger for Leviathan, the Independent Spirit Award for the screenplay of Smoke, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Burning Boy, and the Carlos Fuentes Prize for his body of work. His most recent novel, 4 3 2 1, was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and is a Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. His work has been translated into more than forty languages. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

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More a series of family stories than a novel with a compelling plot, this book kept my attention because it was so beautifully written. Overall it was quite melancholy and I found it a bit depressing. The ending was very abrupt but I can see that without a complex plot there wasn’t a way to resolve the whole story.

Little gem of a book

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No me convenció , esperaba algo brillante de un autor famoso como Austen. Los diálogos personales son confusos y reflejan una sociedad americana en soledad y decadencia. es una novela académica de las que intento alejarme

Intelectual y filosófico

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As with other Auster’s novels we can see the protagonist mind at work. This meandering story comes out as a free association train of thought. It’s wonderful but the abrupt end leaves us wanting more.

A window inside the mind

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The description of life as an automobile towards the end of the book is thought provoking. The prose is beautiful throughout the book. It the ending leaves me angry.

Great book but bad ending

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Heartwarming story, beautiful writing, and uniquely authentic narration due to the author reading his own book.

Beautiful prose!

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Like warm days in the cold of winter, Baumgartner tells a tale of hope despite all small things of life that can turn it into something dreadful and sad.

Unfnished yet finite (or would it be the other way around?) life, like the book, has a way of showing us what it wants from us without spelling all details.

Drive and dive into Baumgartner's extraordinarily mundane life. As for yours, try to enjoy the splash and ride carefully!

The mundane in the extraordinary

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I liked this book, and enjoyed the performance of Paul Auster reading his own work. It's rare that a writer can read their own work effectively, but in this case, it worked! I felt the ending was just a tiny bit confusing. I don't want to give anything away, so I won't say more about the specifics or events in the ending. I think I get it, but I would have liked just a tiny bit more so that I could be sure. I understand that a great writer like Paul Auster didn't want to spoon feed us, and I truly appreciate that, but just a bit more would have been very helpful!

Great Listen

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This is a low-key book following the days and memories of an aging author and academic. But being in the mind of this man is engaging and heart-warming. Especially enjoyed the sections featuring his time with his deceased wife and her writing. Recommended!

A charming gem of a book

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Horrible ending. Non ending!! I loved the story until it suddenly ended. Where’s the rest of the story?

Great narration

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I had the pleasure of reading Paul Auster’s final gift on May Day. He has inspired me to go back in and read those I haven’t read yet. I appreciate his lasting gift.

Saved a Wonderful One for Last

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