{"id":967,"date":"2007-10-19T10:03:45","date_gmt":"2007-10-19T16:51:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=967"},"modified":"2007-12-06T15:22:10","modified_gmt":"2007-12-06T22:10:10","slug":"shalom-auslander-via-email","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=967","title":{"rendered":"Shalom Auslander Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shalom’s latest book is Foreskin’s Lament<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He responds to some of my email questions<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Q: What’s new between you and God?<\/p>\n

A: Nothing yet. But I have a flight tomorrow, so we’ll see. Check Drudge around noon for news of the crash\/hijacking\/explosion\/disappearance.<\/p>\n

Q: What do you love and hate about your life now?<\/p>\n

A: Love my wife, and love my son. Hate questions about what I love and hate in my life right now.<\/p>\n

Q: What did you love and hate about writing your memoir? What were the toughest parts to write? Why?<\/p>\n

A: The point of the book (I don’t see it as a memoir, though it unfortunately falls into that genre) was to examine how I came, at 34 years of age, to believe the things I believe and fear the things that I fear. To do that, my family history was at least as important as my religious history (I love the reactionary believers who read the book and exclaim, “Wait! I caught him! He doesn’t hate God! He hates his family!” As if I put those stories about them in there by mistake, Sherlock), and at the same time, I didn’t want to hurt anyone. Fortunately, as it turned out, nobody takes a bigger beating in the book than I do.<\/p>\n

Q: Did you receive any advice on your memoir that you found useful and you think might be useful to others?<\/p>\n

A: Having come from a world that fetishizes the dead, I have a difficult time looking to past writers for advice. But William Faulkner had a great line about writing, specifically about the women in his books that were clearly based, unflatteringly, on his mother: he said that the purpose of art was to reveal and to be honest, and that the Ode on a Grecian Urn was “worth any number of old ladies.” Go Bill.<\/p>\n

Q: You believe in the existence of God? Do you feel grateful to Him for the good things in life?<\/p>\n

A: “Believe” is probably too lofty a word. I am terrified that the God I was raised with might actually exist. He is insane, whether the people who believe in him want to admit that or not, and he is abusive; it is somewhat classic of an abusive relationship that after an evening of hits, slaps and drunken rages, the abuser apologizes, cleans up and makes a lovely dinner. But the abused knows that tomorrow will bring more of the same, and will not be surprised when it does.<\/p>\n

Q: Which parts of the halachic life, if any, do you miss?<\/p>\n

A: I miss the easy comfort of being told what to do and when to do it. I miss the security that absolute (if unfounded) faith offers. I also miss my blankey and pacifier, but I can’t go back to them, either.<\/p>\n

Q: How have family and friends from childhood reacted to your memoir?<\/p>\n

A: Predictably.<\/p>\n

Q: Do you find yourself repeating your father’s fathering habits?<\/p>\n

A: No. And you ask another smart-mouthed question like that, you little punk, and you’ll get the back of my hand.<\/p>\n

Q: Your all time favorite niggun?<\/p>\n

A: Right now I’m really into Tool.<\/p>\n

Q: How do you determine what is right and wrong?<\/p>\n

A: I consult a poorly written book compiled by terrified, ancient nomads and check to see what their schizophrenic, completely immoral, violent, vengeful God said I should and shouldn’t do. It’s just that easy. (As a side note, I find it a strange admission when religious folks insist that there would be no morality without the Ten Commandments, that without those commandments, there would be only raping and killing. I always find myself thinking, “That’s all that’s keeping you from raping and killing, Padre? A book? Shit, maybe you ought to turn yourself in to the local authorities. Seems you’ve got a pretty tenuous grip on yourself there.”)<\/p>\n

Q: How is your soul?<\/p>\n

A: My what?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I told Shalom to only answer the questions that interested him.<\/p>\n

I gave him the same message on the first interview. He ended up answering all my questions, though not in great depth.<\/p>\n

He wouldn’t give me an interview over the phone, saying he hated interviews, and that email interviews were the least bad form of interview.<\/p>\n

Joe says:<\/p>\n

I heard several audio interviews with Auslander. WNYC<\/a> This American Life<\/a> BBC<\/a> Fresh Air<\/a><\/p>\n

He didn’t sound like he hated it. Your questions were better.<\/p>\n

What I thought was interesting about him was that he was married for 15 years before he had a child.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Shalom drove around with Charles McGrath of the New York Times<\/a> on Rosh Hashanah but I was in shul then worshipping God and checking out the ladies.<\/p>\n

Here are the questions Shalom did not answer this interview: <\/p>\n

* Why do you hate interviews?<\/p>\n

* If you were to write a script for a reality show, how would it go?<\/a><\/p>\n

* Did this memoir reconnect you with anyone from childhood and was this
\nprimarily good or bad?<\/p>\n

* How would your closest friends describe you?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shalom’s latest book is Foreskin’s Lament. He responds to some of my email questions: Q: What’s new between you and God? A: Nothing yet. But I have a flight tomorrow, so we’ll see. Check Drudge around noon for news of … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[134],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-shalom-auslander"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t