Paul Auster On Book Reviews: 'I've Learned Not to Look'

Paul Auster On Book Reviews

One that that has changed, though, is Auster's relationship to critics. "I've learned not to look at reviews," he said. "Early on I did, I was always curious. You tend to feel very hurt when people attack you and feel indifferent when you get praise. You think, 'Of course they like it. They should like it.' I've learned that reading one of these attacks is like drinking poison; it goes into your system. You'll remember the nasty phrases. You can't get them out of your head. And that doesn't do you any good as a human being at all to walk around with that sense of rancor or frustration. What can you do?"

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