There can be different outcomes when fiction writers and novelists take on the wilderness of nonfiction. They sometimes randomly wander until something strikes their fancy.  They may get involved with the natives and neglect their mission. But, hey, they just might navigate those uncharted territories like Lewis and Clark. The last is true for Jonathan Safran Foer. His first nonfiction book, Eating Animals, has arrived on our planet, and he made a stop in our fair city last night to talk about it.

Foer plans on this being his only work of nonfiction;  he feels strongly about the environmental effects of the animal industry and called the topic of vegetarianism “durable,” as he’s been flopping back and forth, vegetarian to omnivore, since the age of 9.

He read two small sections based on his grandmother,  presented as a food-centric Jew, a trait resulting from nearly starving during World War II. Her determination to keep kosher even through those times inspires him to keep sight of his ideal. When he asked her how she could refuse food that could save her life, how it could matter at a time like that, she replied, “If nothing matters, there’s nothing to save.”

Foer has a true flair for hyperbole, but he presented a number of facts regarding factory farming and its effects on the environment that attendees could only wish were exaggerated. His extensive research and subsequent deep knowledge of the modern “farming” world gave him a confidence and made him unblinking when faced with potentially moral gray zones. When the reading turned to conversation, Foer was matter-of-fact and unabashed when a farmer’s daughter made a case for family farms, her own passed down many generations. His reply, “I just don’t think tradition is all that compelling.”