Jonathan Safran Foer facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jonathan Safran Foer
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Safran Foer in 2008
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| Born | February 21, 1977 Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Nickname | JSF |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Education | Princeton University (BA) Mount Sinai Medical Center |
| Notable works | Everything Is Illuminated (2002) |
| Spouse |
Nicole Krauss
(m. 2004; div. 2014) |
| Children | 2 |
| Parents | Esther Safran Foer (mother) |
| Relatives |
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Jonathan Safran Foer (born February 21, 1977) is an American writer. He is famous for his novels like Everything Is Illuminated (2002) and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2005). He also wrote non-fiction books such as Eating Animals (2009). These books explore important topics about how we live and what we eat. Jonathan Safran Foer also teaches creative writing at New York University.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Jonathan Safran Foer was born in Washington, D.C.. His father, Albert Foer, was a lawyer. His mother, Esther Safran Foer, is a child of people who survived the Holocaust. Jonathan is the middle of three brothers in a Jewish family. His older brother, Franklin Foer, is a writer and editor. His younger brother, Joshua Foer, started Atlas Obscura.
When Jonathan was 8 years old, he had an accident in a classroom. This made him feel very unwell for about three years. He later said he just wanted to feel different.
He went to Georgetown Day School. In 1995, he started studying at Princeton University. There, he took a writing class with the famous author Joyce Carol Oates. She saw his talent and told him he had "energy," which is important for a writer. This made him think seriously about writing.
Jonathan Safran Foer graduated from Princeton in 1999. He then briefly attended medical school. But he soon left to focus on his writing career.
Writing Career and Major Books
After college, Jonathan Safran Foer traveled to Ukraine. His college work about his grandfather became his first novel. This book was called Everything Is Illuminated. It was published in 2002 and won several awards. Later, in 2005, it was made into a movie.
His second novel, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, came out in 2005. This story is about a 9-year-old boy named Oskar Schell. He tries to understand his father's death during the 9/11 attacks. The book uses unique writing styles. It includes photographs and even a flipbook at the end. Critics had strong opinions about these creative choices. This novel was also made into a movie.
In 2009, Jonathan Safran Foer published a non-fiction book called Eating Animals. This book discusses why people eat some animals but not others. It looks at the problems with large-scale animal farms. He explores how our food choices show who we are and what we value. He said he felt it was important to write this book after his first child was born.
He also wrote Tree of Codes (2010) and Here I Am (2016). In 2019, he released We Are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast. This book talks about how changing our eating habits can help the environment.
Jonathan Safran Foer has taught writing at Yale University and now teaches at New York University. He is also on the board of Farm Forward. This group works to promote smart food choices and reduce animal suffering.
Views on Food and the Environment
Jonathan Safran Foer is a strong critic of the meat industry. He believes that how we produce meat causes many problems. These include social, environmental, and ethical issues. He has been a vegetarian at times since he was 10 years old.
He argues that eating less meat can help the planet. He believes it can also improve how animals are treated. His book Eating Animals explains these ideas in detail.
Personal Life
In 2004, Jonathan Safran Foer married writer Nicole Krauss. They lived in Brooklyn, New York. They have two children together. The couple divorced in 2014. From 2015 to 2017, he dated actress Michelle Williams.
Recognition and Awards
- 2000 – Zoetrope: All-Story Fiction Prize
- 2003 – New York Public Library's Young Lions Fiction Award
- 2007 – Included in Granta's Best of Young American Novelists 2
- 2007 – Holtzbrinck Fellow at the American Academy in Berlin
- 2010 – Included in The New Yorker's "20 Under 40" list
- 2013 – Appointed to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council
- 2016 – Included in The Forward's Forward 50 list
See also
In Spanish: Jonathan Safran Foer para niños
- List of vegetarians
