Foer ‘never wrote what he wanted to’

Not many speakers can form a speech around Jewish jokes, but best-selling Jewish author… Not many speakers can form a speech around Jewish jokes, but best-selling Jewish author Jonathan Safran Foer, who spoke in David Lawrence Hall last night, addressed the ways in which humor can heal, recognize and even be religious.

A packed auditorium listened to Foer, who said that laughter is essential for the Jewish faith, and the reason why these jokes are funny is because they help form a sense of community against feelings of loneliness and alienation. He said humor is connected with religion for him because expressing paradoxes of life through laughter can almost be “holy.”

Foer allowed half an hour for a question-and-answer period where students asked about his writing experiences. He explained that he had not always wanted to be a writer, but he said it gave him an advantage.

“When you always want to be something, you become very familiar with the limitations,” Foer said.

He said writing a book is like a journey without a map, and he felt that he had the “flexibility and willingness” to imagine himself and his novel as something else.

“I’ve never written what I wanted to write,” Foer said.

Foer’s best-selling first novel “Everything Is Illuminated” was published when he was 25 and was later made into a movie starring Elijah Wood. The book included Foer himself as a character and was partly autobiographical, exploring aspects of his genealogy and heritage.

He said that before writing the book, he didn’t think of himself as particularly interested in his heritage or his genealogy. Through writing, however, he realized their importance.

“There are things we think we care about, but then there are things we care more about,” Foer said. “At some point you end up with a more accurate portrait of yourself.”

The event was sponsored by the English and Jewish studies departments and the Hillel Jewish University Center, a student organization at Pitt.

Junior Rebecca Lehner, president of Hillel, said she was excited to see Foer on campus.

“It’s really great to see that such a young writer can come up with such profound subject matter,” she said, referencing his “different way” of presenting the Holocaust.

English writing major Ross Scarano said a lot of what Foer said resonated with him as a writer.

“It’s nice to hear about someone with the passion that I hope I have,” Scarano said.

After Foer’s lecture, a student asked Foer if he had any advice for writers in the audience on writing meaningfully.

“You have to somehow summon having faith in what you do and your energy, which is the most important quality for a writer,” Foer said.