Don't Mix the Baumbachs

Last night PEN launched [PENultimate Lit] with an interdisciplinary panel hosted by novelist [Amanda Stern](http://www.amandastern.com/) that included Noah Baumbach and his father, novelist and professor Johnathan Baumbach. With Noah’s film, [Margot at the Wedding](http://imdb.com/title/tt0757361/) set to open this week and and Johnathan’s novel, [You: Or the Invention of Memory](http://www.brooklynrail.org/2007/11/fiction/acting-out), it looked to be an interesting exploration of the divide between film and literature. Unfortunately for PEN, the lecture was painful in the extreme: Sort of like watching someone lifting a heavy box of fragile objects down a flight of stairs without being able to offer any assistance. The Baumbachs, in particular an uncooperative Noah, were clearly not all about making Stern’s job as moderator easy and resolutely refused to answer the defining question of the lecture. Namely, what makes writing matter.

It also turned out to be the most enjoyable lecture on art I’ve witnessed in a very long time. Its very charm came from the irony-tinged and often hilarious interplay between father and son. Example: In Noah’s first reference to his father, unclear on what to call him, he said, “Jonathan may think…,” to which his father responded, “You can call me Professor.”

Actually, Jonathan Baumbach was the surprise hit of the evening. He coupled profound insights on literature and what it does for its readers with hilarious one-liners. Once Noah got comfortable referring to him as “Dad” during the talk, Stern jokingly asked him if she could also call him dad. He responded by questioning her as to her mother’s name, which she refused to answer. “I just wanted to see if you possibly could call me ‘Dad,’” he explained.

There's been plenty speculation about Noah's The Squid and the Whale and whether his relationship to his dad is anything like the often disturbing dynamic that exists between the father and sons in the film. After seeing them interact in front of a paying audience, it seems likely to be the case. There was lots of talk of Jonathan taking Noah to dirty flicks when he was 10, and other creepy/funny anecdotes, but there was also a great deal of respect and admiration for each other’s oeuvre. An authentic camaraderie between seemed to exist between the two rather than demonstrable dysfunction, but perhaps the Baumbachs are best when crafting their own narrative—without a meddlesome family member to twist the story to their own agenda.