Everything is Illuminated & Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

The death of Oskar’s father gives Oskar “heavy boots” and in addition to his talents and interests Oskar finds two other way’s of coping. “inventor, jewelry designer, jewelry fabricator, amateur entomologist, francophile, vegan, origamist, pacifist, percussionist, amateur astronomer, computer consultant, amateur archaeologist, collector of : rare coins, butterflies that died natural deaths, miniature cacti, Beatles memorabilia, semiprecious stones, and other things.” According to his business card Oskar is an Oskar is a boy with many talents and interests. Also, that could be extremely useful, because if you’re on the ninety-fifth floor, and a plane hits below you, the building could take you to the ground, and everyone could be safe.” So if you wanted to go to the ninety-fifth floor, you’d just press the 95 button and the ninety-fifth floor would come to you. “Sometimes I think it would be weird if there were a skyscraper that moved up and down while its elevator stayed in place.

Oskar deals with this grief through a variety of means, one of which is inventing things like birdseed shirts that enable a person to fly, or buildings that move like elevators Oskar’s dad, Thomas, died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Oskar is extremely unique, and possibly autistic, but because the book begins after Oskar’s father has died, it is possible that Oskar’s oddness, such as the refusal to wear clothing that is not white, is merely his intriguing personality coupled with his curious coping methods.

The book is written in first person from the perspective of Oskar, a nine year old boy as well as through letters to Oskar from his grandmother and letters that his grandfather wrote. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is Jonathan Safran Foer’s (Author of Everything is Illuminated, you may have seen the film, and Eating Animals) 2005 New York Times bestseller, which was recently made into a movie.

Everything is Illuminated & Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer