Chosen by Paul Auster out of 4000 stories submitted to his radio programme on National Public Radio, these 180 stories provide an illuminating portrait of America in the 20th century. The selection requirement of the stories was that they should be true and not previously published.

In this novel Paul Auster offers a haunting picture of a devastated world - a futuristic world - but one which may be seen to shadow our own. Auster's other work includes The New York Trilogy and Hand to Mouth , and the screenplays Smoke and Blue in the Face .

Nathan and Tom are an uncle and nephew double-act - one in remission from lung cancer, divorced, and estranged from his only daughter, the other hiding away from his once-promising academic career. Matters change when Lucy, a little girl who refuses to speak, comes into their lives...

Martin Frost goes to a country house to write his novel away from the distractions of the city. Thinking that he is the sole occupant of the house, he is surprised and annoyed when he discovers a young woman in residence. They begin a passionate affair, which reaches an intriguing climax when he has to choose between his life and his art.

Two stories which have been made into films. In Smoke a novelist, suffering from writer's block and the violent death of his wife, is inspired by a young black boy to write again. The action of Blue in the Face partly takes place in the cigar shop which was the focal point of Smoke .

This is the next instalment in 'The Complete Works of Paul Auster', following 'Collected Prose and Novels', volume one. Volume two comprises the three middle period novels: 'The Music of Chance', which was later made into a film, 'Leviathan and Mr Vertigo'.

A contemporary novel which tells the story of Marco Stanley Fogg - orphan, child of the 1960s - spanning three generations. The narrative moves from the early years of this century to the first lunar landings, from Manhattan to the landscape of the American West.

Set against the backdrop of the contested US election of 2000, this title tells the story of Nathan and Tom, an uncle and nephew double-act. One in remission from lung cancer, divorced, and estranged from his only daughter, the other hiding away from his once-promising academic career, and, indeed, from life in general.

Willy G Christmas, and Mr Bones embark on an adventure together, heading to Baltimore in search of Willy's beloved mentor Bea Swanson - who used to know him as William Gurevitch, son of Polish war refugees. But is she still alive?

August Brill, an elderly book critic, lies awake in the dark, unable to sleep. Elsewhere in the house are his daughter, Miriam, and granddaughter, Katya, each with her own reasons for lying awake and watchful in the long Vermont night.

The explosion at the start of this book ends the life of its hero, Benjamin Sachs, and brings two FBI agents to the home of one of Sachs's oldest friends, the writer Peter Aaron. What follows is Aaron's story, an investigation of another man's life. By the author of Moon Palace .

The story of a young writer's struggle to stay afloat. Paul Auster's memoir is essentially a book about money - and what it means not to have it. From one odd job to the next, from one failed scheme to another, he investigates his own stubborn compulsion to make art.

The explosion at the start of this book ends the life of its hero, Benjamin Sachs, and brings two FBI agents to the home of one of Sachs's oldest friends, the writer Peter Aaron. What follows is Aaron's story, an investigation of another man's life.