Travels in the Scriptorium

Paul Auster

• Publisher: Faber & Faber
• Year: 2010
• Topic: Literature
• eBook ISBN:
  9780571266753
• Subtopic: Literature General
• Index: Literature

Auster's existential tale of Mr Blank from the author of contemporary classic The New York Trilogy: 'a literary voice for the ages' ( Guardian)

An old man sits in a room, with a single door and window, a bed, a desk and a chair. Each day he awakes with no memory, unsure of whether or not he is locked into the room. Attached to the few objects around him are one-word, hand-written, labels and on the desk is a series of vaguely familiar black-and-white photgraphs and four piles of paper. Then a middle-aged woman called Anna enters and talks of pills and treatment, but also of love and promises.

Who is this Mr Blank, and what is his fate? What does Anna represent from his past - and will he have enough time to ever make sense of the clues that arise?

After the huge success of The Brooklyn Follies, Travels in the Scriptorium sees Auster return to more metaphysical territory. A dark puzzle, and a game that implicates both reader and writer alike, it is an ingenious exploration of language, responsibility and the passage of time.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• The old man sits on the edge of the narrow bed
• It should be noted that in addition
• It should be noted that a second camera
• Now Anna is gone
• Mr. Blank pauses for a moment
• Far off in the distance
• Now Flood is gone
• Now Mr. Blank is in the bathroom
• The moment Mr. Blank comes to the end
• Now Mr. Blank is sitting in the chair again
• Mr. Blank tosses the typescript onto the desk
• Mr. Blank is about to continue
• Now Sophie and Mr. Blank
• Now Sophie is gone
• When the action resumes
• Mr. Blank has been talking steadily
• Now Quinn is gone
• By now, Mr. Blank has read all he can stomach
• About the Author
• Copyright