Jonathan Safran Foer

[jd]

I liked Foer's first book, I won't lie, but I couldn't get through the
second one...  it was just too cheesy and cutesy...  he's giving a
reading soon, here's the ad:

JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER - Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
The author of Everything is Illuminated, Jonathan quickly made a name
for himself as one of the freshest, most innovative, and earnest
writers of his generation. We like him a lot. When he comes to present
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close - his searching and poignant second
novel - we'll be using the interior images from the book at the
Coolidge Theatre to create a multi-sensory reading experience that
will blow your hair back.

During the signing portion of Jonathan's event we will be giving away
three poster prints of images from Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. 
The prints will be chained and locked with a padlock*, and each
customer who buys one of Jonathan's books will be given a key.**  If
you receive one of the three keys that opens the padlock, you get your
choice of the three poster prints which Jonathan will sign for you to
cherish for always.

LARGE BOLD PRINT (THE ANTI-FINE PRINT)
*If you do not grasp the huge metaphorical significance of this
giveaway, grab a copy of Jonathan's book.
**Customers must purchase one of Jonathan's books on the night of the
event to get a key.  One key per purchase, not per book.


Does anyone else view this as a shameless gimmick that has no real
place in the literary world?  What do you all think of Foer?  I enjoy
it when people try to experiment with writing styles but Foer seems to
have never gotten past that high-school period of silliness, at least
that's how it seems to me...  like there's a lot of little kids out
there writing similarly though perhaps not as successfully & he was
almost picked by random...  I wonder what his deal is & how / why
someone chose to print him (even tho I liked his first book OK it
really fell apart in the end in my opinion)...  I am going to see this
presentation but am quite skeptical...