Meet the Man Who Would Rather Read a Book He's Read 8 Times Than Watch Beyoncé Live

By Joanna Rothkopf  |  May 6, 2016 | 8:50pm
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It’s been done—the dad spotted casually reading at Raleigh’s Beyoncé concert has been identified and interviewed. We know his name, we know the book he brought, we know what kind of music he likes more than Beyoncé’s.

The man, wonderfully named George Papageorgiou, told local television station ABC 11 that he wasn’t a chaperone (as the tweet that made him viral assumed)—he had actually been working selling concessions at the concert venue with his wife for their church. When they were done with their shift, they pulled up chairs.

“After awhile, we watch the show. It was OK, and then we just sat down. I pulled up my book and start reading,” he told ABC 11. “I find Beyoncé a great show woman, very attractive. Her music? Eh, fine, but not my style. I listen to ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s, and a lot of Greek music.”

He said he was reading a copy of a Greek translation of Danube Pilot by Jules Verne (a book that beautifully appears to be out of print) which his parents bought for him in Cairo 53 years ago when he was 13. He says he has read it seven or eight times, and it was still more compelling than the Formation tour.

“I love it—probably not another book that’s influenced by love for geography as much as this book,” he said, according to ABC 11. “It’s about a trip from Georgia and the caucuses [sic] all the way to Beijing, China with a whole bunch of adventures in-between, so it’s an exciting book.”

I can’t argue with that!

Papageorgiou also said he is tickled by the media attention (so take a deep, cleansing breath): “I get this message on my iPhone saying, ‘It’s hilarious, you’re in the news for reading a book at the Beyoncé concert.’”

“It didn’t sink in ‘til I started getting phone calls or my wife and stuff saying the news is calling they want to interview you and I’m like, ‘What about?’”

God bless George Papageorgiou, God bless ABC 11, and God bless Beyoncé.

Image via ABC 11.

 
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