Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | In the Country of Last Things | 1987 | Paul Auster | Buy |
| 2 | Moon Palace | 1989 | Paul Auster | Buy |
| 3 | Auggie Wren’s Christmas Story | 1990 | Paul Auster | Buy |
| 4 | Leviathan | 1992 | Paul Auster | Buy |
| 5 | Mr. Vertigo | 1994 | Paul Auster | Buy |
| 6 | Dream Days in Hotel | 1998 | Paul Auster | Buy |
| 7 | Timbuktu | 1999 | Paul Auster | Buy |
| 8 | Sophie Calle: Double Game | 1999 | Paul Auster | Buy |
| 9 | The Book of Illusions | 2002 | Paul Auster | Buy |
| 10 | Oracle Night | 2004 | Paul Auster | Buy |
| 11 | The Brooklyn Follies | 2005 | Paul Auster | Buy |
| 12 | Travels in the Scriptorium | 2005 | Paul Auster | Buy |
| 13 | Man in the Dark | 2008 | Paul Auster | Buy |
| 14 | Invisible | 2009 | Paul Auster | Buy |
| 15 | Sunset Park | 2010 | Paul Auster | Buy |
| 16 | 4 3 2 1 | 2017 | Paul Auster | Buy |
| 17 | Baumgartner | 2023 | Paul Auster | Buy |
Paul Auster published 17 standalone novels between 1987 and 2023. These books share his recurring preoccupations with chance, identity, storytelling, and the strangeness of everyday American life, but each works independently and none require prior reading.
His early novels include In the Country of Last Things (1987), a dystopian fable told through letters, and Moon Palace (1989), a sprawling story of inheritance, coincidence, and westward expansion. The Book of Illusions (2002) follows a grieving professor who becomes obsessed with a forgotten silent film actor. Auster’s longest and most ambitious work, 4 3 2 1 (2017), tells four parallel versions of one man’s life from the same starting point and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. His final novel, Baumgartner (2023), is a quieter, more personal book about an aging writer looking back on his marriage and career. Auster died in April 2024.