The critically acclaimed American writer has died aged 77. Here, contemporaries pay tribute to his life and work• Brooklyn’s bard: Paul Auster’s tricksy fiction captivated a generation• Paul Auster – a life in quotes• Paul Auster – a life in picturesBritish novelist The exquisite chapter of domestic accidents that opens Paul Auster’s final novel, Baumgartner,...

Authors, critics and Guardian readers discuss the titles they have read over the last month. Join the conversation in the commentsI have been travelling a lot this month, back and forth between London and Devon and my mum’s house in Scotland. Train journeys feel like permission to read. The Quick and the Dead by Joy Williams has been on my shelf for...

A Jewish boy’s life splits in two and follows two different paths in this novel of trauma and enduring love in Nazi Europe‘Where did they all come from, Jens? All those Nazis … ” So wonders 18-year-old Max Spiegelman to his best friend Jens Arnstein, as they prepare to leave Austria for Switzerland. It is 1938 and Nazi Germany has just annexed Austria...

On the centenary of his death, a new English translation of the great writer’s journals reveals some surprising detailsAfter his death on 3 June 1924, a letter was found in Franz Kafka’s office in Prague addressed to Max Brod. “Dear Max, My last request: Everything I leave behind me ... in the way of diaries, manuscripts, letters (my own and others’),...

The writer of The New York Trilogy, Leviathan and 4 3 2 1 – known for his stylised postmodernist fiction – has died from complications of lung cancer• Paul Auster – a life in quotes• Paul Auster – a life in picturesPaul Auster, the author of 34 books including the acclaimed New York Trilogy, has died aged 77.The author died on Tuesday due to complications...

There is a useful book to be written about the rise of anti-obesity drugs such as Ozempic, but this flawed account is not itIn the last couple of years, there has been a healthcare revolution. Semaglutide, a drug initially prescribed for diabetes under the name Ozempic, has been shown to reduce obesity dramatically, and repackaged for that use as Wegovy....