Hand to Mouth tells the story of a young writer's struggle to stay afloat. By turns poignant and comic, Paul Auster's memoir is essentially a book about money - and what it means not to have it. From one odd job to the next, from one failed scheme to another, Auster investigates his own stubborn compulsion to make art and, in the process, treats us to a series of remarkable adventures and unforgettablee encounters.