“OHe stole our dignity. » Siri Hustvedt, American novelist and essayist, reacted this Thursday, May 2, after the death of her husband Paul Auster at the age of 77, the announcement of his death was announced first at New York Times by a friend of the couple. “I was naive, but I had imagined that I would be the person who would announce the death of my husband, Paul Auster,” she regrets in a publication on Instagram.
The novelist, memoirist and prolific screenwriter died in New York following complications linked to lung cancer, the American daily revealed on Tuesday April 30, just before midnight, citing a family friend, the author and journalist. American Jacki Lyden.
” It’s bad “
The philosopher indicates that her husband “died at home, in a room he loved, the library”. “He died with us, his family, around him, on April 30, 2024 at 6:58 p.m.,” she said. “Some time later, I discovered that even before his body was removed from our house, news of his death was circulating in the media and obituaries had been published. Neither I, nor our daughter Sophie, nor our son-in-law Spencer, nor my sisters, whom Paul loved like his own sisters and who witnessed his death, have had time to recover from this painful loss,” regrets- she said.
“None of us were able to call or email our loved ones before the online shouting started,” she says. “We were robbed of this dignity. I don’t know the whole story of what happened, but I know this: it’s wrong,” she laments.
READ ALSO Death of Paul Auster: the 3 essential booksIn the rest of her Instagram post, Siri Hustvedt pays tribute to Paul Auster “who never left the land of cancer” and whose palliative care was provided at home. “His stoic courage and humor until the end of his life are an example for me,” she salutes.
Born in New Jersey, Paul Auster became a New York literary icon with his New York trilogy published in 1987 and which gave a philosophical twist to the detective novel genre. Also a screenwriter, he contributed to the film Smoke, which portrays lost souls gravitating around a Brooklyn tobacco shop. Among his other successful works are: Moon Palace, The Book of Illusions And Brooklyn Follies.
