This was probably one of most enjoyable interviews I ever conducted. We simply sat down and talked. I really like the opening of the story I feel like it captured both the moment and illustrated the person. An ideal anecdote.
May 25th, 2007
Nathan Englander looked carefully at the menu. “Is the fish good?” he asked, not waiting for an answer. He talked quickly, almost frantically, of the cities he has already been to and where he is going next. “San Francisco, Seattle, what about a burger?” He closed the menu. “I’ll order the salmon,” he said conclusively. The waitress arrived and he looked up at her as one of his notorious curls fell into his face. “I’ll have the crab cakes, please,” he said, a half-smile punctuating the humor he saw in the moment.
It is this humor and irony in Englander’s writing that propelled him to the forefront of the literary world eight years ago, when he published his collection of short stories, For the Relief of Unbearable Urges, to rave reviews. After stepping into the spotlight almost a decade ago, Englander was in town last week to promote his highly anticipated first novel, The Ministry of Special Cases, with a reading and discussion at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver.
