Jonathan Safran Foer

[Matthew Ryan]

I haven't read him, but I recently saw the film version of "Everything is
Illuminated" and found it to be kind of a mess. Can't comment on his writing
myself, but I did run across this article which is about as scathing as you
can get:

*Why the author of Everything Is Illuminated is a fraud and a hack.*
http://www.nypress.com/18/15/news&columns/harrysiegel.cfm


On 4/18/06, jd <wescac at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> 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...
>
>
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