WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.590 align:middle line:90% 00:00:01.590 --> 00:00:02.160 align:middle line:90% Good evening. 00:00:02.160 --> 00:00:07.975 align:middle line:90% 00:00:07.975 --> 00:00:11.130 align:middle line:84% If this is one of Charles Yu's fictional universes, 00:00:11.130 --> 00:00:13.350 align:middle line:84% the Poetry Center that we've all gathered inside 00:00:13.350 --> 00:00:17.250 align:middle line:84% of this evening, it would be a time machine. 00:00:17.250 --> 00:00:19.230 align:middle line:84% Just as in Charles Yu's novel, How 00:00:19.230 --> 00:00:22.320 align:middle line:84% to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe, 00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:25.740 align:middle line:84% we travel into the past alongside his main character, 00:00:25.740 --> 00:00:30.390 align:middle line:84% whose name also just happens to be Charles Yu. 00:00:30.390 --> 00:00:32.910 align:middle line:84% We land in his childhood neighborhood and watch him 00:00:32.910 --> 00:00:35.640 align:middle line:84% and his friends laugh at poor little Donny, 00:00:35.640 --> 00:00:39.180 align:middle line:84% from two blocks down the street, all because poor little Donny 00:00:39.180 --> 00:00:43.830 align:middle line:84% said he wanted to be Buck Rogers instead of Han Solo. 00:00:43.830 --> 00:00:46.590 align:middle line:84% Or perhaps we might land inside a car, 00:00:46.590 --> 00:00:48.840 align:middle line:84% as Charles is sitting in the passenger 00:00:48.840 --> 00:00:52.800 align:middle line:84% seat, a melted Popsicle dripping all over his hand. 00:00:52.800 --> 00:00:55.770 align:middle line:84% Unable to move because he's just asked 00:00:55.770 --> 00:01:00.690 align:middle line:84% his father for the first time, dad, are we poor? 00:01:00.690 --> 00:01:03.270 align:middle line:84% We'd see these past moments and somehow recognize them 00:01:03.270 --> 00:01:06.930 align:middle line:84% as our own, recognize the main characters ourselves, 00:01:06.930 --> 00:01:13.230 align:middle line:84% because seriously, Donny, who wouldn't choose to be Han Solo? 00:01:13.230 --> 00:01:15.300 align:middle line:84% Or maybe, instead of time travel, 00:01:15.300 --> 00:01:18.090 align:middle line:84% we'd strap ourselves into a conscience machine, 00:01:18.090 --> 00:01:20.670 align:middle line:84% like the one in Yu's famous story, Standard Loneliness 00:01:20.670 --> 00:01:24.360 align:middle line:84% Package, the machine that allows us to feel other people's 00:01:24.360 --> 00:01:26.610 align:middle line:90% emotions for them. 00:01:26.610 --> 00:01:29.040 align:middle line:84% We'd be able to experience the boredom others feel 00:01:29.040 --> 00:01:32.850 align:middle line:84% from sitting at a dentist, the grief of losing a loved 00:01:32.850 --> 00:01:36.300 align:middle line:84% one to cancer, or of course, the pain from getting 00:01:36.300 --> 00:01:38.760 align:middle line:90% your heart broken. 00:01:38.760 --> 00:01:41.340 align:middle line:84% Some of these feelings you've experienced before. 00:01:41.340 --> 00:01:45.330 align:middle line:84% Others we haven't, but know them as familiarly human. 00:01:45.330 --> 00:01:48.360 align:middle line:84% All of this is possible when you read Charles Yu's work. 00:01:48.360 --> 00:01:50.910 align:middle line:84% He is a recipient of the National Book Foundation's 00:01:50.910 --> 00:01:55.650 align:middle line:84% "5 under 35" award, and he's been nominated for two Writers 00:01:55.650 --> 00:01:58.650 align:middle line:84% Guild of America awards for his work on the HBO series 00:01:58.650 --> 00:02:00.242 align:middle line:90% Westworld. 00:02:00.242 --> 00:02:02.700 align:middle line:84% His work has been published by the New Yorker, the New York 00:02:02.700 --> 00:02:05.490 align:middle line:90% Times, Slate and Wired. 00:02:05.490 --> 00:02:09.900 align:middle line:84% And his novel, How To Live Safely in a Science Fictional 00:02:09.900 --> 00:02:13.080 align:middle line:84% Universe, was a New York Times notable book, 00:02:13.080 --> 00:02:16.290 align:middle line:84% and named one of the best books of the year by Time magazine. 00:02:16.290 --> 00:02:17.820 align:middle line:90% Or by-- yes. 00:02:17.820 --> 00:02:20.790 align:middle line:84% Which is all to say that Yu's fictional universes, 00:02:20.790 --> 00:02:23.460 align:middle line:84% mind-bending, and playful, and haunting, 00:02:23.460 --> 00:02:25.800 align:middle line:84% rattle your imagination awake and change 00:02:25.800 --> 00:02:29.850 align:middle line:84% what you thought was possible for words on a page. 00:02:29.850 --> 00:02:33.900 align:middle line:84% If you're like me, it might seem unbelievable at first. 00:02:33.900 --> 00:02:38.220 align:middle line:84% And you might say, well, this is after all, fiction. 00:02:38.220 --> 00:02:40.590 align:middle line:84% But the main-- but as the main character in his novel 00:02:40.590 --> 00:02:44.520 align:middle line:84% says, I know none of this seems very believable. 00:02:44.520 --> 00:02:47.170 align:middle line:84% It probably doesn't even make sense. 00:02:47.170 --> 00:02:49.290 align:middle line:84% But for once in your life, please, 00:02:49.290 --> 00:02:51.240 align:middle line:90% I'm asking you to trust me. 00:02:51.240 --> 00:02:54.150 align:middle line:90% Trust yourself. 00:02:54.150 --> 00:02:56.550 align:middle line:84% Because to call Yu's universes fictional 00:02:56.550 --> 00:02:59.550 align:middle line:84% is almost a lie in and of itself. 00:02:59.550 --> 00:03:01.950 align:middle line:84% What rings more true to me is that I, as a reader, 00:03:01.950 --> 00:03:05.070 align:middle line:84% find myself wanting to call these universes fictional. 00:03:05.070 --> 00:03:07.200 align:middle line:84% Because in all honesty, they come too 00:03:07.200 --> 00:03:09.870 align:middle line:90% close to my everyday reality. 00:03:09.870 --> 00:03:14.520 align:middle line:84% Time travel, telepathy, family, poor little Donny, 00:03:14.520 --> 00:03:16.950 align:middle line:90% loneliness and love. 00:03:16.950 --> 00:03:19.680 align:middle line:84% Charles Yu's work reminds us that all of this 00:03:19.680 --> 00:03:21.600 align:middle line:84% is not an escape from our reality. 00:03:21.600 --> 00:03:23.670 align:middle line:90% It is our reality. 00:03:23.670 --> 00:03:26.660 align:middle line:84% Please join me in welcoming Charles Yu.