Fight Club, Facebook and Fasting

Saturday I went to a literary gathering called Festival America out in Vincennes (imediately outside of Paris). I suppose it might seem a little odd to go to a literary festival consisting entirely of North American authors when in Paris, but I figured it would be interesting to see what such an event consisted of in light of a supposed general atmosphere of anti-Americanism. To be more honest, that was my high-falutin intellectual rationalization for going. Mostly I went because Chuck Palahnuik, author of Fight Club, Choke, and other piercingly hilarious novels, was set to speak, as was Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid's Tale among others) and Johnathan Safran-Foer (Everything is Illuminated).

The more literary events I attend the more I am struck by the inability of authors to speak nearly as well as they write, but Chuck did not dissapoint. He celebrated the ability of authors to push the envelope even further than film or TV directors can because books are so much cheaper to produce and are therefore less market-driven. When asked about the immense cult-like popularity of Fight Club he said, "People tell stories in order to process experiences that are too complex to be immediately assimilated into their identity. In the case of a successful story, such as Fight Club, society at large assimilates the story by creating lesser and lesser copies of it--films, then video games, then T-shirts." He also read an incredibly disturbing short story that caused one guy in the audience to faint (apparently it often has this effect on people). "Writing should not only touch people intellectually and emotionally, but also physically," says Chuck. Mission accomplished.


Yesterday I utilized the (new? I can't keep track any more) Facebook feature where you can hunt down people in your gmail contact list to see if any of my new fellow English assistant friends had profiles. Of course many of them did, and I proceeded to friend them all. I must say this is an instance of Facebook's indisputable utility for post-college socialization. In college Facebook generally merely reified existing social groups--dorm halls, sports teams, Ukranian egg-makers, etc.--rarely was it truly the only way of tracking down someone on campus. Now, for better or worse, it can be the difference between being friends with someone or not. I've met so many Americans wandering around Paris this past week, and I have not been keeping a running list of people's contact info. Those who are on Facebook may well be invited to my upcoming flat-warming. Those who aren't may not for no other reason than I have no way of contacting them (short of inviting all 100+ American assistants and hoping only the ones I like show up). It would also be nice if everyone switched to transparent gmail addresses so if I know your name I know your email. How the hell am I supposed to figure out who gigglysquashstr47@yahoo.com is??


Today was glorious Yom Kippur. The Jews of Paris were out en masse to attone for their many sins (why all the burning of perfectly good cars?). The service I ended up at was largely orthodox--women separate upstairs and in Hebrew only--but I was struck by the lack of a dress code. I figured it would be the normal orthodox deal for women--long skirts and long sleeves--so I borrowed a skirt from Emma and tried to look the part of a humble, sexless mourner. Turns out the Parisian women were wearing everything from short skirts to jeans, and were probably wondering who the drab orthodox redhead was. I hope God appreciated the gesture...