Shalom Auslander appeared at Elliott Bay last night to promote the paperback edition of his memoir, Foreskin’s Lament.
What struck me most is how serious and intense he is. I guess I should have realized this about him from his promotional photo, which simply screams I am a serious and intense author. But his work, which I love, just seems much too funny to come from anyone so grave.
Except for a single man who laughed loudly in all the right places, the reading felt a little like a wake. Despite this, I enjoyed myself. I got a chance to hang out with Matt Briggs and talk shop. And it’s always good to get into Seattle for a night.
Auslander said he considers memoir to be the literary equivalent of pornography. I’m pretty sure he was serious. I guess he only wants to write fiction, but his memoir is really good.
Present Tense 
Were you that man? the one who laughed at all the right places?
Not me. It was the guy who worked at Elliott Bay. He introduced Shalom and then sat off to one side. We were a small gathering of fans, all politely tittering, but this guy was really giving it his all. Shalom is just really intense.
I love the comment about memoir being the pornography of literature. Very funny! I thought you would be the man laughing, too. 😉
Whew. I thought it was me laughing. Tittering is much more my speed, but I couldn’t tell. Auslander’s fear of god was pretty funny.
He who titters last…
Also, I finally fixed the site so that comments appear right away. I hope I don’t get hit with a ton of spam.