Arnon Grunberg

Love life

Jew boy

During the opening party of the Istanbul Tanpinar Literature Festival a Dutch lady who works as a literary agent hugged me and asked me: “Do the Turks like Jew boys like you?” I thought that I had misunderstood her, so I said: “Excuse me?” She repeated the question.
Everybody is entitled to ask flippant questions, especially at opening parties of literary festivals, but somehow I felt that this question was a tad inappropriate.
For that reason I answered: “How is your love life?”