Andrei to the Codrescu

June 9th, 2004 · No Comments

Aimee and I enjoyed an early evening event with Andrei Codrescu, reading a passage from his new novel Wakefield, at the Coolidge Corner Theatre, put on by Brookline Booksmith. The man himself was witty, dry, and charming, and the book sounds entertaining and exceedingly well-written.

The real impression left from the evening, however, was another case of what I shall call QADS, or Question and Answer Distress Syndrome. You could substitute “Despair,” “Disgust,” “Desiretomakeoneselfastinyaspossible,” or any other term that might express the pain created by people in the audience who don’t understand the Q & A concept. Brief questions that will allow the guest to elaborate or give insight, fine. Long-winded questions that aren’t actually questions but are stories, usually arcane and pointless, about the questioner, told with the hope of eliciting agreement or admiration from the guest, are not. Also not ok: statements that are meant to show one’s own intellectual prowess, but just end up making the guest at best, bemused, and at worst, defensive. Last night’s examples: “I saw a movie of yours in Israel. Do you have a friend in Israel? I know your friend in Israel.” And that was the short version. Or, “Isn’t it the problem of all great talents that they can’t write plots?” Codrescu’s reply to this one was both indulgent and dismissive in a brilliant way, and he finished with this line: “If you’re paranoid enough, you’ll see that everything is connected.”

It’s always a testament to the talent of the guest, how well they deal with QADS. Kevin Spacey, if I remember correctly, even indulged the Queen of QADS a hug at the David Gale preview screening a few years ago. The rest of us in the audience needed a hug after that one.

Tags: Books