Syntax of Things: Three Foers

December 13, 2006

Three Foers

Just when you thought it was safe to walk the streets of New York City, now comes news that there's another Foer with a book deal. Youngest of the three Foers, Joshua, who is 24, received a $1.25-million advance for his first book. And the movie rights have already been optioned. I guess that alone could make any family proud, but the Foers don't have time for pride; they're more interested in complete and utter literary domination. Anyway, read all about the Foers, described as "three nerdy brothers from D.C.," and the Foer family in this NY Observer article:

Certainly no one could accuse them of being unmotivated. The eldest Foer, Franklin, 31, is the editor of The New Republic; Jonathan Safran Foer, 29, is the author of the literary novels Everything Is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close; and Joshua, after interning at Slate and dabbling in freelance journalism, is at work on his book, titled Moonwalking with Einstein, about his descent into the world of memory competitions (the book was already optioned for film).

The intrigue that surrounds the Foers in New York literary circles is such that one editor who considered Joshua’s book proposal whispered a piece of Foer lore: the rumor that when they were growing up, the three boys were required to make presentations to their parents during dinner each evening as a sort of training for the public stage.

“Family dinners were a big thing,” Franklin Foer, who lives in Washington, D.C., said by phone. “You’d turn off the nightly news and then sit down and eat.” Franklin described his father as a highly experimental cook, and mentioned his dad’s “falafel spaghetti sauce” as one particular dish that left an imprint on his palate.

“Dinner-table conversation had its share of current events and historical discussion, and, you know, analysis of French symbolism … but also its share of fart jokes,” he said.