US author Paul Auster, best known for his celebrated "New York Trilogy" of mystery novels, has died of lung cancer at the age of 77.
The New York Times reported that his friend and fellow author Jacki Lyden confirmed Auster's death on Tuesday.
Auster was born to a Jewish immigrant family in Newark, New Jersey in 1947 and dreamed of becoming a writer from an early age. He studied literature in New York and France and funded his writing career through teaching assignments and translation.
After the failure of his first marriage, he made his breakthrough in the mid-1980s with the "New York Trilogy," a trio of loosely connected detective stories entitled "City of Glass," "Ghosts" and "The Locked Room."
Auster established himself as a renowned, bestselling author with later works including "Moon Palace," "Mr. Vertigo" and "The Book of Illusions."
His characters, many of whom were inspired by his own life story, were often eccentric and dysfunctional, serving as vehicles for the author's reflections on philosophy, identity and culture.
In later life, Auster continued to publish extensively, including an 800-page biography of US author Stephen Crane. His final work, a short novel entitled "Baumgartner," appeared in November.
Christoph Heubner, an executive at the International Auschwitz Committee in Berlin, on Wednesday called Auster a staunch advocate of democracy and a bulwark against conspiracy theories, saying the world would miss his "life-affirming and clear voice."
"Holocaust survivors bid farewell with gratitude and melancholy to the great writer, neighbour and contemporary Paul Auster, who in his works and his life repeatedly gave space to memory and also to their memories," he added.