Auggie Wren's Christmas Story
by Paul Auster
List Price:
Our Price: $13.00
You Save: $2.00 (13%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $2.92 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Paul AusterIllustrator: Isol
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2004-11-02
ISBN: 0805077235
Number of pages: 48
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Book Reviews of Auggie Wren's Christmas Story
Book Review: Fascinating story
Summary: 5 Stars
Many (many!) years ago I read this story; years later, I saw the film "Smoke" with Harvey Keitel and William Hurt. I was so deeply influenced by both that I suggested that the Great Books discussion group I was in should read this story for our December reading (never mind that half of us are Jewish).
However, back in the day, the story was only a figment of my fevered imagination, if you searched the libraries or the internet (young then). The story had been published only once, in the New York Times, and then dropped to the bottom of the sea. Meanwhile, director Wang had gotten in touch with Auster and they had agreed to make it into a film. So it HAD to exist somewhere, right?
After digging into the internet, I located a gentleman who had published a limited edition, William Drenttel. He had published it in a small run of very nicely bound books for a lot of money, or a REALLY limited edition for well over $100.
I wrote (humbly) to him, and here is what he said:
Lori, happy to send you the text for the limited use of your reading group.
I've attached it as a Word file, as well as posted it below. Hope you have a great evening on 1/19. Best, Bill Drenttel
Published by William Drenttel New York & The Delos Press
December 1992
Printed by Libranus Press, England, in an edition of 450
Story Ūrst published in The New York Times on December 25, 1990.
Auggie Wrenšs Christmas Story
Paul Auster
Illustration by Brian Cronin
So that is how my book group was able to discuss "Auggie Wren" years before this book became an affordable reality.
Of course I think it is a wonderful and complex story about growth, redemption, sadness, joy, pain, and how to move on with one's life...instruction of a sort.
Auster is brilliant, as always.
Summary of Auggie Wren's Christmas Story
A timeless, utterly charming Christmas fable, beautifully illustrated and destined to become a classic
When Paul Auster was asked by The New York Times to write a Christmas story for the Op-Ed page, the result, "Auggie Wren's Christmas Story," led to Auster's collaboration on a film adaptation, Smoke. Now the story has found yet another life in this enchanting illustrated edition.
It begins with a writer's dilemma: he's been asked by The New York Times to write a story that will appear in the paper on Christmas morning. The writer agrees, but he has a problem: How to write an unsentimental Christmas story? He unburdens himself to his friend at his local cigar shop, a colorful character named Auggie Wren. "A Christmas story? Is that all?" Auggie counters. "If you buy me lunch, my friend, I'll tell you the best Christmas story you ever heard. And I guarantee every word of it is true."
And an unconventional story it is, involving a lost wallet, a blind woman, and a Christmas dinner. Everything gets turned upside down. What's stealing? What's giving? What's a lie? What's the truth? It's vintage Auster, and pure pleasure: a truly unsentimental but completely affecting tale.
When Paul Auster was asked by The New York Times to write a Christmas story for the Op-Ed page, the result, "Auggie Wren's Christmas Story," led to Auster's collaboration on a film adaptation, Smoke. Now the story has found yet another life in this enchanting illustrated edition.
It begins with a writer's dilemma: he's been asked by The New York Times to write a story that will appear in the paper on Christmas morning. The writer agrees, but he has a problem: How to write an unsentimental Christmas story? He unburdens himself to his friend at his local cigar shop, a colorful character named Auggie Wren. "A Christmas story? Is that all?" Auggie counters. "If you buy me lunch, my friend, I'll tell you the best Christmas story you ever heard. And I guarantee every word of it is true."
And an unconventional story it is, involving a lost wallet, a blind woman, and a Christmas dinner. Everything gets turned upside down. What's stealing? What's giving? What's a lie? What's the truth? It's vintage Auster, and pure pleasure: a truly unsentimental but completely affecting tale.
Literary Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Literary Books
Island (Perennial Classics)by Aldous Huxley
Harper Perennial Modern Classics; Published: 2002-07-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops:
Angelsby Marian Keyes
William Morrow; Published: 2002-05-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.12
Price in other shops:
A Tree Grows in Brooklynby Betty Smith
Harper; Published: 2001-11-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $15.17
Price in other shops:
The Devil and Miss Prym: A Novel of Temptationby Paulo Coelho
Harper; Published: 2006-07-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.50
Price in other shops:
Boonville: A Novelby Robert Mailer Anderson
Harper Perennial; Published: 2003-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops:
Carameloby Sandra Cisneros
HarperAudio; Published: 2002-10-01; Audio Cassette; Book
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops:
Headhunterby Timothy Findley
PERENNIAL PUBLICATIONS; Paperback; Book
The Crimson Petal And The Whiteby Michel Faber
Harcourt, Inc./Harvest; Published: 2003; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.50
Great Expectationsby Charles Dickens
Macmillan Pub Co; Published: 1979-06; Paperback; Book
Price in other shops:
This Side of Paradiseby Fitzgerald
Scribner Paper Fiction; Published: 1988-09-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.95
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: A Novelby Jonathan Safran Foer
Mariner Books; Published: 2006-04-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.69
Price in other shops:
The Violets of March: A Novelby Sarah Jio
Plume; Published: 2011-04-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.25
Price in other shops:
SmokeBuena Vista Home Video; Release date: 2012-01-06; DVD
Best price: $19.98
Travels in the Scriptorium: A Novelby Paul Auster
Picador; Published: 2007-12-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.53
Price in other shops:
Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion, and Jewelryby Leanne Shapton
Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Published: 2009-02-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.49
Price in other shops:
The Angel Esmeralda: Nine Storiesby Don DeLillo
Scribner; Published: 2011-11-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.71
Price in other shops:
Austerlitz (Modern Library Paperbacks)by Winfried Georg Sebald, Anthea Bell
Modern Library; Published: 2002-09-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.39
Price in other shops:
Pavel's Letters (Panther S.)by Monika Maron
Random House UK; Published: 2003-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.51
Price in other shops:
Mr. Vertigoby Paul Auster
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1995-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.94
Price in other shops:
True Tales of American Lifeby Paul Auster
Faber & Faber; Published: 2002-10-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.51