Paul Auster and the Influence of Maurice Blanchot

<p> Poet writer and filmmaker Paul Auster is one of the great contributors to American postmodern literature. Influenced by authors like Poe and the hardboiled detective stories of the 1950s Auster's novels represented a new genre of anti-detective fiction in which the case itself loses direction and is overshadowed by existential questions. Analyzing three of his novels--<I>Ghosts</I> (1986) <I>The Music of Chance</I> (1990) and <I>Mr. Vertigo</I> (1994)--this critical study explores the intertextual relationship between Auster's work and the oeuvre of French writer and critic Maurice Blanchot. The author explores Auster's work as a fictionalization of Blanchot's concept of inspiration and the construction of imaginary space.</p>