He has written five screenplays and eight books that consist of essays, memoirs, or autobiographical material. Some of his best known works include Moon Palace in 1989, The Music of Chance in 1990, The Book of Illusions in 2002 and The Brooklyn Follies in 2005. Auster writes a mix of crime fiction, existentialism, absurdism, and the search for personal meaning and identity. He has won several IMPAC Awards as well as an Independent Spirit Awards for Best First Screenplay for Smoke, and a Prince of Asturias Award. For Smoke he was also nominated for Cesar Award for Best Foreign Film in 1996.