Vicarious MFA: Jonathan Safran Foer & David Markson
The Vicarious MFA
Last Friday Jonathan Safran-Foer came to do a guest lecture titled “Intersections.” It was clear that he put a lot of work and thought into the lecture and I feel like I will do it a disservice by trying to describe his overall “point,” but I will say that he showed us this short video of a completely insane intersection in Hanoi. Please click on that. It is ridiculous. He also mentioned that one of the buildings on Columbia’s campus (one that is right by the Writing Department) used to be a part of the Bloomingdale Insane Asylum. He also mentioned Hiroshi Sugimoto, a photographer who Jonathan Safran-Foer wrote a fan letter to when he was in college and whom he later got to collaborate with on a project called “Joe.”
There was a point to Safran-Foer’s guest lecture and I felt smarter and more calm when I left, but I can’t quite say why. From what I have gathered in the past 3.5 semesters in an MFA program, this is what it feels like: I have learned something; I feel different/better; I can’t explain why/what happened. READ MORE >
How Hated Is Jonathan Safran Foer?
The Guardian just released an article about how much shit talking is being directed at Jonathan Safran Foer. Having never read his work, does he really suck that bad?
All I know is that he’s a young successful writer. And from New York. And wears glasses. Wait, I’m looking at his bio photos…I think I hate him…No…Hmm…
From the Guardian comments section:
I always presumed Foer would be exactly the kind of author I would hate. He writes long, self-important books that fill 3 for 2 sections of chain bookstores, marketed perfectly as the clever read for stupid people.
Nice. Read the Guardian article HERE.