4
Wednesday, April 18, 2001
Eggers' Eccentric Style Earns Praise
David Eggers uses a wry,
clever style to achieve a
profound sincerity in his
autobiographical book.
By Joanna Pearson
Staff Writer
Hamlet, the Disney cartoon version
of Aladdin, Christian Slater’s character
in “Pump Up the Volume," Woody
Allen ...
These are but a
few of the figures
who fall into a
special category in
my mind -a cate
gory of people I
will never actually
—^.book^?
rey/ew/
“A Heartbreaking
Work of Staggering
Genius
★ ★★★★
meet but with whom I’m still oddly
infatuated. After reading “A
Heartbreaking Work of Staggering
Genius,” I added David Eggers to this
list.
Along with having earned a reputa
tion with this best-selling book, Eggers,
who will appear at a book signing at 3
p.m. today at the Bull’s Head Book
Shop, was a founding editor of the now
defunct Might magazine and is present
ly editor of the quarterly journal
McSweeney’s.
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Krista
Bud lholz
The University of North Carolina and Wachovia would like to congratulate Krista
Buchholz, the Wachovia Woman of the Week.
Krista is a junior volleyball player from Waupun, Wisconsin. The captain of the
team this spring, Krista is the starting middle blocker and leads the ACC in blocking.
Off the court, Krista is a Philosophy and Communications major with plans to go to Law
School. She is a Deans List student as well as a member of the ACC Honor Roll.
Wachovia is committed to supporting achievements by women and is proud to
celebrate Krista Buchholz’s accomplishments.
LET’S GET STARTED.®
WACHOVIA
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WACH OV I A W.O RLD OF WOMEN'S SPORTS A T U N C
And, as the caption below Eggers’
book-jacket picture of himself (with a
dog) states, “He lives in Brooklyn with
his brother. This is not their dog.”
“AHWOSG" is the story of how, after
the death of both of his parents, Eggers
moved to California and raised his
younger brother, Toph. As Eggers him
self describes the book in his acknowl
edgments, it’s a “memoir-y kind of
thing.”
Conveniendy for his writing career,
Eggers has lived the sort of life most fic
tion writers dream about: surreal sud
den-orphan status; hitting the open
road, just you and your sibling eating
french fries in your dirty house; trying to
launch a smart, hip magazine with your
buddies; almost getting a part in MTV’s
“The Real World.”
Of course, the things that are a boon
to one’s writing career tend not to be so
convenient to one’s everyday life.
Losing one’s parents, for instance,
seems good when you’re one of the
Boxcar Children, but once fiction meets
reality, it’s a little different. Eggers has
lived his life at this intersection of con
venient fictional circumstance and real
ity.
Thus, while the book is terrifically
sharp, witty and sarcastic, it hits at real
sadness. In one of the most interesting
sections of the book, Eggers describes
his “Real World” interview only to
launch into an exploration of both his
Midwestern middle-class upbringing
and his parents’ batdes with cancer. It is,
as the tongue-in-cheek tide suggests, a
little heartbreaking.
It is also, as the tide suggests, incred
ibly sassy and self-conscious. Eggers
begins the book with “Rides and
Suggestions for the Enjoyment of this
Book," which includes the suggestion
that readers skip pages 209-301 and only
read the first three or four chapters.
Throughout the book, Eggers con
standy licenses himself to make all sorts
of claims by being extravagandy self
conscious about them. He epitomizes
the sharp-tongued hipster, the self-dep
recating yet pompous writer.
He is unabashedly nonliterary (as in
the acknowledgement, wherein he says
of himself, “And until last year he
thought Evelyn Waugh was a woman,
and that George Eliot was a man.”), yet
still obviously immersed in the world of
literary cool (note the approving quotes
on back cover from Rick Moody, David
Sedaris and David Foster Wallace,
among others.)
Eggers’ writing style is conversation
al. He’s prone to sudden bouts of
streams of consciousness peppered with
enthusiastic cursing. In a lot of ways, his
novel heralds a brand-new written medi
Arts
um that flourishes with a similar style -
the Web log.
Like these “bloggers,” Eggers reveals
himself to you, and it’s strangely endear
ing. The writing is self-absorbed, but
Eggers manages to draw larger themes
from these events.
And yes, throughout the book some
times he’s a little annoying - you get the
sense that Eggers has listened to a litde
too much college radio, been a little too
down with the underground, is a little
too cleverly self-mocking, as if that will
smooth it all over.
Sometimes he is such a smartass that
you want to hate his “Oh-I’m-too
clever” guts.
Yet you like him. You just can’t help
it.
And in the end, you find yourself
thinking that Eggers and “A
Heartbreaking Work of Staggering
Genius” are both just that - fresh, stag
gering and near-genius.
Editor’s Note: An advertisement pur
chased by the Bull’s Head Book Shop
stated that Eggers’ appearance begins at
3:30 p.m. Chelcy Boyer of the Bull’s
Head confirmed the correct time is 3:00
p.m.
The Arts & Entertainment Editor can
be reached at artsdesk@unc.edu.
W jj| be chosen as this year’s
2<§©l Outstanding
CJprQVOritGFACULTY
The Senior Class of 2001, The General Alumni Association, and The Division of Student
Affairs requests the pleasure of your company at an awards presentation as we recognize
Carolina’s outstanding seniors and faculty on Tuesday, April 24,2001 at 3:30
in the afternoon at the George Watts Hill Alumni Center.
The student nominees are:
John Childress, UNC Racquetball Club
Julie Cooper, Phi Lambda Sigma
Matthew Dukes, Phi Sigma Pi
Mollie Fair, m.a.n.o.
Meg Gambrell, Association of Nursing Students
Elizabeth Gaskins, Young Democrats
Ann Hughes, Collegiate Music Educators National Conference
Maisha Kelly, Student National Pharmaceutical Association
Lynne Kerschensteiner, National Society of Collegiate Scholars
Devin Kirk, Lab! Theatre
Stephanie Lawrence, Mezmerhythm
David Lewis, Carolina Week
Dan Lucas, The Fifth Estate
Gregory Millikin, Episcopal Campus Ministry
Richard Moore, Student National Pharmaceutical Association
Emily Nelson, Phi Beta Kappa
Minali Patel, Donate Life
Ellen Phelps, Episcopal Campus Ministry
Courtnee Poole, National Pan-Hellenic Council
Tee Pruitt, Carolina Athletic Association
Brad Rathgeber, THINK Transit
Lea Ray, Project Literacy
Rye Schwartz-Barcott, Great Decisions
Andy Smith, APPLES Service Learning Program
Jenny Smith, Academic Enhancement Program
Deidre’ Stokes, Black Student Movement
Melissa Walker, General Alumni Association Student Membership Advisory Board
Jiff Williams, Episcopal Campus Ministry
Robin Yamakawa, Residence Hall Association
The faculty nominees are:
DebAikat, School of Journalism and Mass Communication
Zinaida Astrakhan, Department of Music
Doris Betts, Department of English
John Covach, Department of Music
Yves de la Queriere, Department of Romance Languages
Jean DeSaix, Department of Biology
Donna LcFebvre, Department of Political Science
Michael Lienesch, Department of Political Science
William Lycan, Department of Philosophy
Judith Miller, School of Nursing
Nandra Perry, Department of English
John Sweeney, School of Journalism and Mass Communication
Rachel Willis, Curriculum in American Studies
Jessica Wolfe, Department of English
'Staggering Genius' Gives
'Heartbreaking' Interview
By Joanna Pearson
Staff Writer
In an e-mail conversation with David
Eggers, author of “A Heartbreaking
Work of Staggering Genius,” Eggers dis
cusses the importance of gardens, bat
teries and Glen Campbell.
Random topics indeed.
But even more random when you
consider these topics have nothing to do
with the questions he was asked.
Below are excepts from the interview
with a man whose genius seems to be
truly staggering. An unedited version of
the interview is available at
http://www.dailytarheel.com.
Q; You seem to have really good
taste (REM since Chronictown - I
approve!) - what are you listening
to/reading/partaking of at the moment?
A: Glen Campbell.
Q; How is (your younger brother)
Toph? Are you guys alike?
A: Toph is in the Navy. I am not.
Q: What about your other brother
and sister? What do they think of
“AHWOSG”? I seem to recall their
reactions weren’t always favorable.
Did/does that bother you at all?
A: They are also in the Navy.
®hp Soilg (Ear Hrrl
Q: Does it bother you that after hav
ing written a somewhat revealing mem
oir-ish work random people (like me)
ask such questions?
A: No. Their presence in the Navy is
of public record.
Q; You... tend to wrap yourself in so
many layers of self-deprecation and
half-feigned insecurity that you achieve
a weird sort of sincerity. ... Is it impos
sible to achieve sincerity except through
all those self-conscious layers?
A: Yes, but more importantly, how
do we dispose of our batteries? Car bat
teries in particular? No one knows this.
Q: Do you ever worry that you’ll...
get dismissed as just being too gim
micky?
A: Actually, I know we’re allowed to
throw regular smallish batteries in the
garbage, but the car batteries -1 still do
not know this, what to do with these.
Q: Who do you predict will be con
sidered the great literary figures of the
early 21st century?
A: There is a young German writer
named Steve. I forget his last name, but
he will dominate all literature, at least
until the middle of the century, at which
point some other things will happen,
involving gardens.
Q; Out of random curiosity, what do
you think about poetry?
A: I find it very promising, if a bit
faddish.
Q: Where can the average person
find an extant copy of Might?
A: I actually think you might be able
to bring the car batteries back to the
garage or parts store. They probably
have a place for them.
The Arts & Entertainment Editor can
be reached at artsdesk@unc.edu.
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