保羅·奧斯特，1947年齣生於美國新澤西州紐瓦剋市一個猶太裔中産階級傢庭，畢業於哥倫比亞大學。他被視為美國當代最勇於創新的小說傢之一。

保羅·奧斯特年輕時過著漂泊無定的生活，不斷嘗試各種工作。一九七〇年至一九七四年，他客居巴黎，靠翻譯法國文學為生。

保羅·奧斯特的主要作品有小說《布魯剋林的荒唐事》、《紐約三部麯》、《幻影書》等。曾獲法國美第奇最佳外國小說奬、西班牙阿斯圖裏亞斯王儲文學奬，作品被翻譯成三十多種文字。他編劇的電影《煙》於一九九六年獲得柏林電影節銀熊奬和最佳編劇奬。

保羅·奧斯特現定居紐約布魯剋林區。

Nathan Glass has come to Brooklyn to die. Divorced, retired, estranged from his only daughter, the former life insurance salesman seeks only solitude and anonymity. Then Glass encounters his long-lost nephew, Tom Wood, who is working in a local bookstore -- a far cry from the brilliant academic career Tom had begun when Nathan saw him last. Tom's boss is the colorful and charismatic Harry Brightman -- aka Harry Dunkel -- once the owner of a Chicago art gallery, whom fate has also brought to the "ancient kingdom of Brooklyn, New York." Through Tom and Harry, Nathan's world gradually broadens to include a new circle of acquaintances -- not to mention a stray relative or two -- and leads him to a reckoning with his past. With The Brooklyn Follies , the always astonishing Paul Auster has written what is undoubtedly his warmest, most exuberant novel, a moving, unforgettable hymn to the glories and mysteries of ordinary human life.