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    Decatur Book Festival: Jonathan Franzen Keynote LIVE

    Decatur Metro | September 3, 2010

    Categories
    Events
    Tags
    Decatur Book Festival, Decatur events, Jonathan Franzen, live-blogging

    « Eye on the Street A Call For Citizen Decatur Book Festival Reviews »

    8 Responses to “Decatur Book Festival: Jonathan Franzen Keynote LIVE”

    1. Laurie says:
      September 3, 2010 at 9:28 pm

      Was the blogger a slow typist, or restricted by the setting from typing a lot, or is this typical of a “live blog”? I can understand not wanting to repost a book reading, but there was very little of the Q&A, which ran for over 20 minutes.

      • Decatur Metro says:
        September 3, 2010 at 9:37 pm

        So sorry Laurie. I couldn’t get logged onto Agnes Scott’s wifi with my laptop so I was typing everything on my iPod. Not fun!

        • Laurie says:
          September 3, 2010 at 9:54 pm

          Yikes! thanks for the effort.

          • Decatur Metro says:
            September 3, 2010 at 10:38 pm

            I don’t know if it makes up for it, but now that I’m back on a laptop, I’m happy to relay a bit more info about the Q&A.

            Honestly, I wish there had been more time for questions, Frazen’s answers were so interesting. When discussing Wikipedia and Facebook, he first quickly dismissed the questioner’s assumption that he hated the internet, and then set off on the issues he had with the internet. Essentially it boiled down to his appreciation of professional writers. That’s where the ” I like the tyranny of professional journalists” comment came from. He wants to put his trust in someone else who knows what they’re doing and just enjoy the ride. In regards to Facebook, he mentioned that there are only so many minutes in a day and our lives are already so fragmented enough, and that Facebook was basically a waste of time (my summation, not his words).

            The other interesting answer (IMO) was to the last question when he was asked about “boundaries” when writing, by a book editor in the audience. By “boundaries” she was talking about paring down all the material in the world and finding the one story you want to write. It took him a while to formulate a response, taking a slightly uncomfortable amount of time to exhale and begin his explanation. He first reminded everyone that it had taken him 9 years to write his second novel, and so it’s obviously not all that formulated a process. However, he said he just knows when his writing lives up to his own abilities, and when a page falls flat in terms of storyline. And he also mentioned that your writing can also inform you in the ways you need to grow/change as a person.

            • Laurie says:
              September 5, 2010 at 8:56 am

              Thanks for the followup.

    2. Dee Stewart says:
      September 4, 2010 at 4:22 am

      thanks for sharing this. i played around and waited too long to get tickets.

    3. DarenW says:
      September 4, 2010 at 7:23 am

      DM,

      So Sorry for the technical FUBAR. I really appreciate you persevering through with thumbs only.

      We had a few capacity issues also–it turns out that the writer for the national book trade magazine couldn’t get a seat.
      http://blogs.publishersweekly.com/blogs/PWxyz/?p=2064

      • Decatur Metro says:
        September 4, 2010 at 8:58 am

        No problem Daren. Wifi doesn’t like me. Especially in Presser Hall it seems!

        That link is a great summation of the evening. I don’t think the questions could have been better if they were planned.

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