Invisible Audiobook By Paul Auster cover art

Invisible

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for $0.00
Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.

Invisible

By: Paul Auster
Narrated by: Paul Auster
Try for $0.00

$0.00/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $14.99

Buy for $14.99

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

"One of America's greatest novelists" dazzlingly reinvents the coming-of-age story in his most passionate and surprising book to date

Sinuously constructed in four interlocking parts, Paul Auster's fifteenth novel opens in New York City in the spring of 1967, when twenty-year-old Adam Walker, an aspiring poet and student at Columbia University, meets the enigmatic Frenchman Rudolf Born and his silent and seductive girfriend, Margot. Before long, Walker finds himself caught in a perverse triangle that leads to a sudden, shocking act of violence that will alter the course of his life.

Three different narrators tell the story of Invisible, a novel that travels in time from 1967 to 2007 and moves from Morningside Heights, to the Left Bank of Paris, to a remote island in the Caribbean. It is a book of youthful rage, unbridled sexual hunger, and a relentless quest for justice. With uncompromising insight, Auster takes us into the shadowy borderland between truth and memory, between authorship and identity, to produce a work of unforgettable power that confirms his reputation as "one of America's most spectacularly inventive writers."

©2009 Paul Auster (P)2009 Macmillan Audio Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Inspiring

Critic reviews

“[Auster's]use of intertextuality and his crisp, simple prose will keep listeners fully engaged from beginning to end.” —Library Journal

“The story of a Columbia University undergraduate who encounters a strange French couple who change the course of his life is always compelling, especially as read in the gruff, detached growl of Auster's voice.” —Winston-Salem Journal

“Now comes Invisible, a novel of such virtuosity and depth that it should not only unite the faithful in a hallelujah chorus, but it deserves to draw legions of converts as well. More than a return to form, this might be Auster's best novel yet... Auster writes of 'the obsessive story that has wormed its way into your soul and become an integral part of your being.' This is that story.” —Kirkus Reviews on the book
Surprising Twists • Compelling Narrative • Engaging Storytelling • Intellectual Depth • Expressive Voice Variations
Highly rated for:
All stars
Most relevant  
I absolutely loved this book! One of Paul Auster's best! It makes me so sad about his recent death, and that there will be no more Paul Auster novels

A Masterpiece

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I like the author's style of writing, his lively intellect, and his intuition about what his characters are thinking. The subject of this novel, the development, and conclusion of the narrative are all quite puzzling, however, and controversial. How is Walker's incestuous relationship with his sister central to his character or relevant to his conflict with his nemesis, Robert Born? Perhaps his love of women is the product of his early-teen sexual contact with his sister and is central to understanding his protective stance with three other women in the novel. His defense of these women brings him into conflict with Professor Born on several occasions and it is those battles that power the book. Born's multiple roles of Professor, Agent, Double Agent, protector, and murder are also at the heart of the book, however, and those roles are implausible at best. It requires quite a suspension of disbelief to accept the central facts about Born, enjoy the characters in the fable, and continue your appreciation of the author, Paul Auster.

Be willing to suspend your disbelief

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
easy going narrative that leaves you Hungary for more. wondering is this it? was this it a good enough one. there is something about how the story telling is. very absorbing but leaves you with only questions and no answers. i think he was trying to discuss the act of writing and the formulation of stories . but not sure.

absorbing discussion of the writing process

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
It was all beautifully done . Having the book read by the author is a highlight.
Many twists in the storytelling.
The characters were so very interesting. Will be thinking about this book for a long time

Invisible

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I loved this story and narration as well. I feel special thinking that it's narrated by Paul auster himself.

It was amazing

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I enjoyed this book. The narrative is very nicely crafted, and I that's enough a reason for me to recommend it. Sadly however, in spite of a very good start, the story never reached the climax I was hoping for.

Good book, but no masterpiece

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is not what I expected, but then it is a mistake to expect anything from a Paul Auster novel. Not knowing what to expect is part of the fun.

This book made me uneasy--that might be good, but maybe not. Auster can do that because he is such a good author. Make me unsure of whether my reaction is good or bad, that is.

So I think the novel is great.

And the narration is in some ways perfect. Given the book's theme of questionable authorship, I could see someone making that argument. But I mainly found Auster's voice flat and his cadence random.

So I think the narration is not great.

In summary: great novel (unless it isn't), not great narration (unless it is).

What did you expect?

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I am a big fan of Paul Auster and this is one of his best books. It is not quite as dark as some of his other novels and the story is revealed in an intriguing manner. Unlike most novelist, Auster narrates his own book and I really enjoy his deep voice. (In fact after listening to Brooklyn Follies, I read some other books of his and I could hear his voice telling me the story.)
The characters are complex and without giving away the ending, I will say that it ties up enough of the story without seeming to be contrived. I highly recommend this engaging book.

One of Auster's Best

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This man writes like he is telling me all his dirty secrets privately into my ear. Engaging and touching from the first sentence.

I’m a new fan of Auster

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Auster here appears at the height of his powers with words--he wields them at will to create narratives in narratives that make allusions to himself as a writer--and the NYC he inhabits.

While i found the incest distasteful, he, nonetheless, is in intellectual company that he, no doubt, is aware of: Freud, Martha Nussbaum, Jonathan Haidt. For me, it mars the story, but that is no reason not to read or listen to the book.

The story propels the narrative; nothing sags from beginning to end. Listeners or readers may only be left asking, "What happened to x, y, or z?"

Style, narrative and a story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews