TV Spring Flings...
Spring is finally here, and with it
times TV midseason replacements.
check out the Daily's review of Fox's
"Boot Camp" and ABC's "The Job."
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WEDNESDAY
MARCH 28, 2001
9
DESCRAMBLED EGGERS
Readings, writing and celebrity
life: A literary young lion speaks
w wow. ern- w wr w. r
Post-modern guy
condition a la Eggers
By Chris Kula
Daily Arts Writer
0 You heard it here: Dave Eggers' book
eading tonight at the Michigan League
is the hottest ticket in town.
True, it's not every day that the phrases
"book reading" and "hottest ticket in
town" are used together in the same
:' 7
Dave
Eggers
Michigan League
Ballroom
Tonight at 7:30 p.m.
statement, but
then, it's not every
day that the visit-
ing author in
question is
responsible for
arguably the liter-
ary sensation of
the last year.
Eggers' debut
effort, the inspir-
ingly clever "A
Heartbreaking
Work of Stagger-
ing Genius," won
rave reviews and
book-of-the-year awards from seemingly
very publication this side of Popular
Mechanic, casting the 30-year-old writer
- and his current project, the neo-lit
journal McSweeney's - into the spot-
light of national recognition.
With the Vintage Books release of the
perback version of "A.H.W.O.S.G."
(which includes a special new appendix
3slyly titled "Mistakes We Knew We Wre
Making"), Eggers recently took to the
O igh road for a cross-country book tour.
omewhere between St. Louis and
Kansas City, he took a moment to answer
some questions about his approach to
writing, the effects of fame and L.A.
Lakers superfan Dyan Cannon.
The Michigan Daily: Since VH 1 has
yet to produce a "Visiting Authors:
Behind the Readings" series, what is the
average day like during one of these
book tours? Is it just total The-Who-ban-
Sisled-from-Holiday Inn debauchery?
Dave Eggers: Absolutely. It totally
lives up to what we all imagine author
tours are like.
TMD: Giving a reading must be a lot
like doing stand-up: Do you enjoy the
performance aspect?
DE: I do, most of the time. And you're
right, it's a lot like standup, especially
when you're trying to keep these events
kind of fun. Of course, there are writers
ho are more confident of their work --
ey can just get up and read from their
books. But I'm forced to try to distract
everyone.
TMD: In terms of the actual reading,
do you feel more akin to, say, a Phish or
a U2? In other words, do you change
things up/improvise every night in order
to keep things fun, or are there crowd
favorites that you make sure to bring up,
night in and night out?
DE: Every night is pretty different,
ecause my attention span is very poor
ith these things. I usually do something
- like tonight, when we're having two
doctors debate the properties of itching
once to try it out, then a second time
to get it right. Then we move on.
TMD: In working on the book, did
you have any set patterns that you fol-
lowed, or did the creative process changej
a lot? Slow and steady, 9 to 5, or fever-
ish, late-night inspiration?
DE: Very streaky. I write late at night,
usually midnight to five, but sometimes I
stay up all night stalling, painting pic-
tures of bananas.
TMD: Did you ever find yourself
holding onto a bit or section that, deep
down inside, you knew didn't really fit?
How was it resolved?
DE: I usually leave things in even if a
part of me wonders if it really belongs. I
have a hard time cutting sections out - I
sort of prefer a looser structure to some-
thing more ..
ordered and care-
ful, maybe
because it excus-
es me from mak-
ing hard
decisions.
TMD: Did
you ever have
any moments
while writing
when you simplyz
made yourself
laugh out loud,
sort of a "Man,
this really is ,f
some funnyF
shit!" realiza-
tion
DE: That hap-
pen~s a lot. I sit
there and think
I'm hilarious, but
the next day I
read what I've
written and can't :
find the humor.
I'd say every
hundred things I think are funny actually
make me laugh the second time around.
TMD: During the writing, what type
of audience - -if any -- did you visual-
ize for the book ? I mean, did you ever
begin to feel as if you were writing for a
certain group/individual, i.e. "Oh man.
so-and-so is just going to love this part."
DE: I was writing mostly for people
who like, in their literature, liberal usage
of the word "motherfucker."
TMD: In newspaper or magazine
journalism, you get that satisfaction of
seeing your work come to life on the
page fairly quickly. Was it at all a trying
experience putting the book together
knowing that the gratification would be
so much longer in coming?
DE: Absolutely. But there wasn't actu-
ally that much delay in this case, because
I was revising stuff until about two
months before publication. But with
most authors, I don't know how they
stand it - the lag time between finished
manuscript and publication is usually
about a year.
TMD: Was there a single moment dur-
ing the writing process where you took
stock of what you'd produced and first
realized that you were sitting on some-
thing really special?
DE: Here and there, I would write
something that I knew was kind of good,
and when you accumulate a certain num-
ber of parts you find very good, you
begin to think you've got something. Not
that you're counting them as you go, but
; 4 .:.all writers knows
their book has.its
peaks and its
plains, and while
you're trudging
through the flat-
lands ... I'll stop
now. Thist
metaphor is
awful.C
TM D: Was
name recognition
ever a goal for
you'? Has it now
become one? t
DE: Name
recognition isc
nice when you
can help peopler
know have been
trying to gett
books published.t
and when I say
LI endorse the
couresy oVntge BOOS book, or design
it, or whatever, for some reason - andi
I'm not saying it's always rational -it
helps that book get published.
TIMD: I recently read an NYC writer's
bio, and it included the line. "ce's theI
most famous writer on his block, nows
that Dave Eggers has moced Honestly.1
what is your first thought/feeling when1
you see your name dropped all over thei
place?
DE: It's rough, actually. I like seeing
McSweeney's mentioned, or authors we
publish mentioned, but there are lots of
magazines and websites I avoid, for fear
of running across my own name. It's just
too weird sometimes.
Mentality presents...
The Road Less Traveled
A collection of
skits, monologues,
and poems relating
to mental health
Thursday, March 29th
5:30 p.m.
@ League Underground
Free to all
TMD: So what is the weirdest
site/item brought up by a web search for
"Dave Eggers" ?
DE: See, I don't even know. I haven't
ever done that. I know there's probably
some pretty creepy stuff.
TMD: Do you ever feel paranoid
about living up to the ultra-witty expecta-
tions that the book may have created for
some people? Is it harder to have a good
conversation with someone who profess-
es that they're "such a huge fan"'?
DE: The people who say they're fans
are usually so unbelievably nice that con-
versations are easy. But make no mis-
take: I am ultra-witty.
TMD: When did you most feel like a
celebrity?
DE: When I had sex with Dyan Can-
non.
[ID: What city's been most the most
conducive to your style (writing or other-
wivi se)?
DE: Living-wise. San Francisco. In
terms of cities where audiences have
been receptive: probably the biggest and
warmest crowd ever was in St. Louis last
week.
TMD: Is it true you sold the movie
rights to the book? Will you be a pres-
ence during the production'? Who would
you like to see direct, star. et cetera?
DE: We sold the rights, and they were
kind enough to give me a good deal of
control over directors and all that. But we
haven't done anything yet. My dream,
though one I know will never come true,
is to have the movie set underwater, with
an all-black cast. But I doubt it'll happen
- might be hard to market that kind of
thing-.
Courtesy of Vintage Books
By Joanna Steinhardt
For the Daily
Dave Eggers is hard to pin down.
One could go on about all his achieve-
ments or rather, all the things he did
before he became super famous for his
memoir, "A Heartbreaking Work of
Staggering Genius," but first there is
something that should be pointed out.
You can learn a lot from a book by
reading its blurbs. I don't mean about
the plot; I mean about the author, his
influences and allies. On the back of
"A.H.W.O.S.G." (hardcover edition) we
have blurbs from David Foster Wallace
and Rick Moody. (The latter's "this
book does not need a blurb" is by far
the best blurb.) Eggers is often com-
pared to Wallace. They both toy with
literary conventions and share a shane-
less wordiness and bodacious intelli-
gence. They both tackle ambitious
projects and somehow pull it off. And
the kids love 'em, especially the col-
lege-age literary types that enthrone
young writers as their heroes (though
they'd never admit it) in order to knock
them down later on (for "selling out"
perhaps'?).
They are also both males. While
overyone is busy talking about the irony
of it all, the post-modern condition, etc.,
no one notices that the authors are not
writing about the host-modern condition
but., particularly, the post-modern guy
condition. I have no intention of belit-
tling the scope or relevancy of their
work through this statement, but the fact
remains that men and women have dif-
ferent experiences in our society and the
writing of men cannot stand in for that
women.
In "A.H.W.O.S.G.," the narrator is
often sensitive and thoughtful, but is fre-
quently an asshole. He surrounds these
episodes with a self-effacing anxiety
and a masochistic awareness that soften
their effect. But he cannot negate his
maleness (which unfortunately comes
through in his being an asshole) by
exposing his humanity. Because that's
impossible. He is a guy. And ladies are
not guys.
Back to the main point that Eggers is
not writing about the post-modern con-
dition but the post-modern guy condi-
tion. Where are the ambitious novels by
unforgiving, shamelessly feminine, end-
iessly annoyed young women'? Are they
not being written or are we just not hear-
ing about them And if'a book came out
that really flaunted a woman's true, 100
percent, all-or-nothing thoughts on writ-
ing, expression, truth, dry skin, toddlers,
modesty, fear, low-fat muffins, globai
capitalism and the details of female
urges, would it sell? Would nmen read it
Dave Eggers probably would.
Eggers admits to being an asshole. h,
speaks about it openly. That is hi,
strength. He has a relentless honesty
that gives his work momentzim and tai-
gibility. You can feel the story crawl into
your lap like a kid fresh from kinder-
garten, telling you about how his friend
ate a bug during recess. Eggers has the
indissoluble literary feel of someone
who is telling a story -- relaying infor-
mation, all of it, for better or worse
to enliven the so-called livin.
So here is the life story of this novel.
ish memoir: When Eggers was twenty-
one, both of his parents died of cancer
within a month of each other. Eggets
and his sister were then given the
responsibility of raising their nine-year-
old brother. In or der~ to start anew. they
ditched their Chicago suburb and moved
to California - rcainsW Punks!
Ocean! -- -to play frisbee on the beach
and sing Journey songs for the edifica-
tion of growing ovs. "A.H. WO.S.G
delves into the banality and plain unde-
sirability of death. In an amazing feat of
stylistic acrobatics, this is done in a way
that makes one laugh. In fact, it fecls
good to read a book like
"A.11.W. .S.G."
Eggers creativity is vital and valuable
but the whining chorus of critics and
interpreters and generally confused cur-
mudgeons try to drown out his efforts
with their peintiess opinions. You should
go see him read. You should read the
book he wrote. And you should ignore
everything you have ever, will ever, or
are reading about him
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