Audience Analysis

Audience Analysis: The Stranger


When I took my first look at the novel, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, I immediately read the reviews. I figure that these must be the most positive, insightful sentiments about the book or they wouldn’t have been selected by the publisher. There on the inside front, against a background of cinnabar with a black silhouette of a hand, were the comments of an old friend from Seattle, The Stranger. The review states, “Funny and extremely tender, and incredibly brave…Maybe this is a novel for young people. By that I mean people who think of the future as exciting…I read it in a daze of happiness.” I decided to visit the website www.thestranger.com seattle / /Content?oid=21080 and read the review, “Everything is Obliterated” by Christopher Frizzelle, in its entirety. What I realized, as I looked at the content of the site and thought about the readers of this publication, was that the audiences of The Stranger are the Oskar Schells of the world.
The Stranger’s readers are an eclectic mix of edgy, left wing, counter culture devotees and misfits. Think Harvey Milk’s activists, the cast from 90’s movies like Singles, and the students in the liberal arts schools of the University of Washington. Oskar’s vegan, white wearing, no public transportation, pacifist, atheist ideas would be very much in line with the pathos of the readership. The Stranger is not “in the closet,” if you pardon the expression, about their politics and point of view. You are immediately bombarded by ads for tattoo and piercing parlors, personal ads of every color and combination, promotions for cutting edge concerts, art exhibitions, and Indy films. The top story on the home page is “Tax the Filthy Rich!” accompanied by a picture of the nation’s capitol. Another lead story relays the fallout of a police officer killing a homeless, deaf, mentally ill man who was brandishing a knife. There is an obvious liberal bias to the articles, and that is to be expected. Someone easily offended by extreme liberal thought or alternative lifestyles would not be a likely reader, except to present the paper as evidence of the downfall of society.
Frizzelle’s review of Foer’s novel stays true to the message of the publication. Frizzelle is writing to a literate and receptive audience. Rather than looking critically at the novel, this review attacks Foer’s critics, as did some of the other reviews available to us. Fizzelle takes particular offense to comments made by Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times. He finds her comments pretentious and off base, especially those regarding Foer’s experimental style and the believability of Oskar as a character. The New York Times, being the gold standard for national newspapers is definitely aimed at wider audience. While Frizzelle’s audience tends to be educated, and culturally aware, his demographic has a lower income and is younger than that of The New York Times. Frizzelle is writing for people who know about the reputation of “Grey Lady” of news, and may even read it, but rebel against the establishment and see it as old fashioned. It’s as if Frizzelle’s readers are hipsters, laughing along with Foer at a joke the old school just doesn’t get. Frizzelle takes objection to the criticisms of famed author and reviewer, John Updike. Frizzelle aptly points out that this novel is written for a new generation of visually savvy readers who have been raised with T.V., the internet, and now I-Pods etc. “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close is set (and was written) in a time period of absolutely no silence whatsoever, a time period in which people, especially children, confront millions of messages and graphic apparatus everywhere.”
Frizzelle’s review, in contrast to the brief reviews provided by other booksellers, is lengthy (two pages) and very detailed regarding the plot of the book. My initial opinion is that Frizzelle is a frustrated novelist who wishes that he had penned this engaging story. The introduction reads like a 9/11 novel itself, and Frizzelle summarizes the book in such detail that the article is nearly a spoiler. I’m glad that I finished the majority of the book before reading the review or it wouldn’t have been nearly as exciting. Frizzelle doesn’t really get into critiquing the novel until well into the second page. His review gives away too much and gets a little academic. It reads like a paper for an English class rather than a quick down and dirty explanation of the novel, whether it was good, and if it’s worth reading. True to The Stranger’s target alternative audience, Frizzelle comments that, “Foer is clearly a paper fetishist.” Much like his characters, Foer, according to Frizzelle, obsessively collects letters and documents. Frizzelle appreciates Foer’s use of visuals and the purpose they serve in the novel. He praises Foer for his “naturalistic and modernist,” disorientation in the delivery of the plot and how there ended up being a surprising amount of, “narrative logic.”
Out of all the articles I read about Foer and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close I enjoyed Frizzelle’s and the Powell’s pieces the most. Both articles originate in very progressive Northwest cities, Frizzelle’s from Seattle and the Powell’s article from Portland, and both articles appear to have a similar target audiences. Foer, like a grown-up Oskar, is the target audience for these publications. He is relatively young, intelligent and hip. He doesn’t want to read, or write, like authors of previous decades. We are in a new millennium. I also identify with the audience of both pieces. I’m a previous resident of Oregon and Seattle, a side-line fan of the counter culture, and a child of technology and information. While the novel appeals to many ages and demographics, I feel a connection with Foer and am glad I can still share Frizzelle’s “daze of happiness,” experiencing this novel.