Sep162008
We Are Living in an Alternate Reality
Paul Auster at the Herbst Theater for a City Arts & Lectures conversation with Michelle Richmond.
It was thrilling to see one of my all-time favorite authors, Paul Auster, discuss his work, his writing process, and a few of the “random” events that helped to shape his world view. One of my favorite things he said was that, when asked why he sometimes writes stories that take place in somewhat altered realities, he answered that ever since the 2000 election when Al Gore clearly won and yet George W Bush was allowed to take office (which he feels will go down in history as one of the top American travisties), he feels we’ve been living in an alternate reality ever since. If it were not for that vital election mishap, Gore would be finishing up his second term right now, we would not be at war in Iraq, and perhaps 9/11 wouldn’t have occured. Thus, he feels writing about alternate realities is apropos to our times.
Raindrop Parade
