I guess I wanted to leave America for awhile. It wasnt that I wanted to become an expatriate, or just never come back, I needed some breathing room. Id already been translating French poetry, Id been to Paris once before and liked it very much, and so I just went. – Paul Auster
Theres hope for everyone. Thats what makes the world go round. – Paul Auster
All I wanted to do was write – at the time, poems, and prose, too. I guess my ambition was simply to make money however I could to keep myself going in some modest way, and I didnt need much, I was unmarried at the time, no children. – Paul Auster
I was always interested in French poetry sort of as a sideline to my own work, I was translating contemporary French poets. That kind of spilled out into translation as a way to earn money, pay for food and put bread on the table. – Paul Auster