As I was looking for my missing autobiographies yesterday morning, I found quite a number of things I was not looking for in my study (“The Missing Autobiographies,” August 30, 2014). One of them was Kenneth Goldsmith’s “Eat More Shit More” printed on a large sheet of paper. I could not remember who and why had given it to me, but I immediately decided to toss it away together with some other crap I had found. But the sheet was a bit too pretty to throw away. Goldsmith’s name was printed in large red lettering. The poem, if that is what it is, is printed in stark black lettering. The cheap paper has yellowed over the years to such an extent that it was rather appealing, too. And so I decided to paste it on the municipality’s message board in the hilltown’s loggia. This is what I did early this morning before the lower square got crowded with tourists. Goldsmith’s poem will be removed soon enough by someone or other from the municipality, but it will provide some entertainment in the meanwhile. “Eat more shit more,” I can imagine many a tourist reading aloud. “Shit more eat more.” Much laughter will follow, I am sure. This is my humble contribution to tourism in Motovun, Istria, and Croatia as a whole.

Addendum (September 1, 2014)

My humble contribution to tourism in Motovun has lasted only a few hours. Someone removed Goldsmith’s poem from the message board in the loggia soon after I placed it there. Judging by the ragged remnants of the sheet of paper still on the board, he or she was quite annoyed by it, too. It was torn off in one fell swoop, and it must have been crumpled into the smallest of balls a moment later. That is the hilltown in a nutshell. One inhabitant’s entertainment is another inhabitant’s distraction. Nay, outrage. But that was exactly as I expected, I should add. A few hours at most. There are few surprises on the hill of fools. Amen.