On The DL

Paul Auster

by Tami Fertig

Wed., Feb. 20, 7 p.m., free but registration required, Ritz Five, 214 Walnut St., 215-895-1029

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Martin Frost has had a difficult life. He first showed up in Paul Auster's 2002 novel The Book of Illusions, as a character in a forgotten film described by the book's protagonist. Then, last year, Auster expanded this snippet into an actual film, The Inner Life of Martin Frost, but had to cycle through many different Martins (including Willem Dafoe) before finding one willing to commit (English actor David Thewlis).

The film itself, which Auster will present this Wednesday at Ritz Five, is no less complicated. The story involves a novelist who writes his greatest work in an isolated country house, getting inspiration/sex from a mysterious lady who may or may not exist and who dies at the very moment Martin writes the last word of his chef d'oeuvre. But that's only the beginning; it gets much weirder. As with all of Auster's work, you have to stretch your imagination, embrace stranger-than-strange coincidences and accept that crucial plot questions will be left unanswered.

You can, of course, attempt to pick Auster's brain for clues, as he'll stick around after the screening for a Q&A session hosted by Drexel film professor Zhenya Kiperman. He'll also sell and sign copies of his books, including the screenplay of Inner Life (Picador, $11) and his latest New York Trilogy-esque novel, Travels in the Scriptorium, about a man who wakes up and doesn't know who or where he is.