Brain Snacks: Tasty Tidbits of Knowledge
Foer started writing his first novel, the critically acclaimed Everything is Illuminated, as part of his senior thesis at Princeton. Not all of us are lucky enough to have Joyce Carol Oates as our thesis advisor. (Source.)
Jonathan Safran Foer gave the 2013 commencement address at Middlebury (VT) College. NPR included it on its list of "The Best Commencement Speeches, Ever." (Source.)
The New Yorker magazine included Foer on its list of "20 Under 40," young writers who were world-changers. (Source.)
Foer became a vegetarian activist and wrote a satiric piece about cooking and eating dogs. (Source.)
It's impossible not to notice the similarities between Oskar Schell and Oskar Matzerath, the protagonist of Gunter Grass's The Tin Drum. They're both precocious kids of German descent coping with trauma (Oskar M. never leaves home without his drum) who conjure up fantasies to deal with the horrible events they've witnessed. (Source.) Foer was hugely influenced by this novel.