Stillman's Maze			1997 news archive
News Bibliography Biography Articles Other links			November 25 More strange news about Dream Days Hotel. The source who sent me the information from Amazon.com was able to contact Auster's agent to find out what exactly is going on. Here is her report: The book "Dream Days in a Hotel" hasn't even been WRITTEN yet! Auster has a contract for two books with Holt: first will be a short novel called "Timbuktu". The woman I talked to read the first part of it and thinks it's great. It might be published in the second half of 98. "Dream Days" will follow even later than that—maybe in about 2 years' time. My source also tells me that she was informed that the film Auster is currently directing, Lulu on the Bridge, will be presented at that Cannes film festival next year (Auster was a juror last year). There will also be a book about the making of the film. I am pretty shocked by this news. Other reports I had heard said that he had holed up for a while last year and finished the new novel, and that it was apparently delayed only because of the switch to his new publisher. Instead, it seems that other matters have taken his attention away from writing, and it will be quite a while before he will release a new work of fiction.   November 22 Not only has Dream Days Hotel not been published yet, it has apparently been taken completely off the schedule. It doesn't show up in Amazon.com's database at all anymore, and one of my readers has informed me that when she tried to order when it was still listed, she received the following email: Greetings from Amazon.com! We have contacted the publisher by phone to place an order for your copy of Dream Days in Hotel (ISBN 0670852104). Unfortunately, it has come to our attention that the publication of this item has been cancelled. I can't imagine that it has actually been cancelled—perhaps it is merely being pushed back to a time of year when it won't be competing for all of the Christmas shopping dollars. I am assuming that the book is finished, since Auster has moved on to other projects. I'll keep checking back at the Amazon site and post any new developments here.   October 22 Auster's new novel is still scheduled to be released on November 2nd, while Auster himself remains occupied with the shooting of Lulu on the Bridge, a movie that he wrote and is directing starring Harvey Keitel. Auster's work can turn up in the strangest of places. For instance, while driving to work this morning, I happened to switch the radio to Howard Stern just as they began a two or three minute ramble about Smoke. Apparently it began because Fred, one of Stern's many sidekicks, has a bit part in Lulu on the Bridge, and he was being called away in the middle of the show to go do a fight scene with Harvey Keitel. I don't even know how to contextualize this; it's almost as strange as the thought of Auster sitting on the panel of Cannes Film Festival Jurors with Tim Burton.   September 6 As you can see, I've done a major redesign of my entire site, so some of this is fairly old news. Still, I have to start somewhere. Auster's new memoire, Hand to Mouth: A Chronicle of Early Failure, has been released by his new publisher, Henry Holt (who also published Pychon's new novel, Mason & Dixon). Interestingly enough, Auster seems to have gotten over his shyness about some of his earlier works; there are several appendices to the memoire, including three plays the he wrote in the 70s and Squeeze Play, the popular detective novel that he published under the name Paul Benjamin. This novel used to be a pretty big secret, but details about it have leaked into the Auster reading community over the past three or four years. It is actually the first novel he ever wrote, and is valuable for that alone. I highly recommend picking this book up if you haven't already. Auster's new novel, Dream Days Hotel, was originally scheduled to be released in February, but Amazon.com is reporting that it has been pushed back to November 1. Interestingly, Auster has left Viking/Penguin, his publisher since the mid-80's. Both the new novel and the memoir will be released by his new publisher, Henry Holt. Auster's forays into the world of film also seem to be increasingly occupying his time. In addition to assuming judging responsibilities earlier this year at the Cannes film festival, Auster will make his solo directorial debut with "Lulu on the Bridge," starring Harvey Keitel. Auster wrote the script, and the shooting is scheduled to begin later this fall.