Jonathan Safran Foer
Photo by Emily Berl

JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER: “YOU HAVE TO WASTE A LOT TO HAVE A LITTLE”

by UWE-JENS SCHUMANN

SHORT PROFILE

Name: Jonathan Safran Foer
DOB: 21 February 1977
Place of birth: Washington, DC, United States
Occupation: Author

Mr. Foer, is it true that you used to ask your favorite authors to send you one empty page from their new manuscripts?

That was more than 10 years ago, I haven’t done it for quite a long time. I still have those pages, though, on my wall in my house but I just haven’t actually asked for a new one for quite a long time. I don’t think I’ve done it since I became a writer myself. Actually, it’s interesting because since I did that collection, a lot of those authors that sent me pages have died. Susan Sontag, Arthur Miller, David Foster Wallace… Quite a few have passed away.