A Damn Good Book

Have any of you discovered Jonathan Safran Foer yet? He wrote "Everything is Illuminated" a few years ago, which I read and thought was totally awesome. I mean, not awesome as in I recommended it to a few friends - awesome as in I can still picture his headshot on the back page, in that little white tshirt looking all geeky and cute and delectable. I am waiting for him to get divorced so that he can realize that I am actually the one for him; and I'm not even kidding about that, as horrible and ill-wishing as it sounds.

A while ago, I picked up the book to re-read it and found it completely impossible. I literally could not get through the first few pages. Then they made it a movie, and at the end I couldn't tell if it was one of my favorite movies or one of the worst movies I'd ever seen. I'm still not sure about that.

So when he came out with his second book, "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close," I hurried to buy it at the bookstore ('cause you know I was on the I'm-obsessed-with-this-author email list to receive an update when book 2 was published). Didn't do it. Didn't buy it! Waited for 4 years to get the next look into JSF's ingeniousness and then left it on the shelf. I picked it up and flipped to the first page - the page that generally determines if I will read a book, that's how I do it - and I thought it was awful. Then I flipped through and saw all the pictures and diagrams and just refused to buy it. This is in part due to my being a total cheapskate; however, I even rejected it later at the library.

I'm telling you all this to explain why you should venture over to the "F" section (it's under Foer, not Safran Foer) in your B&N or library (if you don't have a library card, you might be literally retarded... libraries are one of the best things about our society today - but that's for another blog). You will pick up "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" and put it back. That's ok... after all, it's what I did at least 5 times on different days. But eventually, the first page will strike your fancy, and you will give it a shot. It will be a weird experience reading this book. But if you've ever lost someone, had a grandma, known someone who's lonely, or been to New York, you will love it - on the right day.