Jonathan safran foer spins tale of loss

To Jonathan Safran Foer, a blank page can speak volumes.

The author of the best-selling first novel “Everything Is Illuminated” has made a habit of collecting blank pages from writers he admires, something he explains only by calling it “instinct.” The pages took on a new significance in recent months when two of the writers died: Susan Sontag and Arthur Miller.

“Now those pieces feel really heavy,” he says. “It makes you think about saying what you can say while you have time.”

At 28, Foer isn’t wasting a minute. His second novel, “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” hit book stores in March, and his first is being made into a movie directed by actor Liev Schreiber, to be released in August.

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