Oracle Night is a 2004 novel by Paul Auster. The Guardian calls the novel a "postmodern ghost story". The work is reminiscent of that of Vladimir Nabokov, and the novel is about a writer named Sidney Orr (short, americanized version of the polish surname Orlovskij), who, after making a miraculous recovery from close-to-killing injuries, buys a new notebook and starts writing a story about a man who completely changed his life when he realised how much his existence was ruled by coincidence. The base premises for the book is this, Sidney Orr trying to come back to his life and begin writing again, but a lot of things happen in his life at the same time, and the reader gets introduced not only to Sidneys work and personal life, but also in some extent to the life of the person in his work-in-progress novel. Before the end of this period in Sidneys life, events will take place that are truly life-altering, and Sidney will, much like the fictional character he writes of, have to deal with issues and questions he has previously (perhaps unconsciously) been avoiding for several years. 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Daniel Defoes Robinson Crusoe; title page of 1719 newspaper edition A novel (from French nouvelle Italian novella, new) is an extended fictional narrative in prose. ... Paul Benjamin Auster (born February 3, 1947) is an American writer. ... The Guardian is a British newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. ... Postmodernity (also called post-modernity or the postmodern condition) is a term used by philosophers, social scientists, art critics and social critics to refer to aspects of contemporary art, culture, economics and social conditions that are the result of the unique features of late 20th century and early 21st century... A ghost story may be any piece of fiction, or drama, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or the belief of some character(s) in them. ... Vladimir Nabokov This page is about the novelist. ...

Biographical

The main character has many similarities to Paul Auster himself, both being residents of Brooklyn, middleaged, married, and of course, writers. Some similarities between Auster and a supporting character in Oracle Night - John Trause, are also apparent. Trause, an anagram of Auster, also lived in Paris for a period of his life.