All
it takes is a quick perusal of your local newsstand to realize how dumb
celebrity is and how we as a race have almost ruined that one thing
that’s supposed to be the coolest and most enviable thing we regular
folks can aspire to be. Who doesn’t want to be rich or famous, or at
least a little of one? It’s not the American Dream, it’s The Dream.
Sadly, so many of the people that get the ink are the ones who are the
least interesting or real. Or worse yet, they’re famous for something
cheap. Or for being a freak.
Here
at CHUD.com we would like to shine a light on folks out there who are
doing it right. Some of them aren’t even people who we’re a fan of the
output of but self-made individuals
who have earned the respect in their own right. You may not agree or
you may find a new few favorite folks. Either way, I look forward to
your take on it. This list is in no particular order.
The Celebrity: Dave Eggers.
What He’s Best Known For: A Hearthbreaking Work of Staggering Genius,the memoir about the death of both his parents and his raising of his younger brother. McSweeney’s, an amazing publishing empire.
The Catalyst for His Success: His little book nearly won him a Pulitzer.
Career Low Points: Being featured on this site?
Otherwise none, though he has experienced serious loss in his family with his parent’s succumbing to disease and his sister committing suicide.
Why He’s Here: In addition to being a crackerjack writer, good looking gentleman, and a publisher of absolutely beautiful and amazingly diverse books, trades, and one delightful expensive newspaper he has done massive amounts of work in spreading the contagion of reading and writing.
This is a recipe for great:
- Massive talent.
- A good attitude.
- Good taste in collaborators and people to champion and provide opportunities to.
- Giving back to the community and the kids.
- Hard earned power and the logic to wield it with class and bravery.
- The ability to deliver both deep and literary work as well as pure pulp.
And he wrote Where the Wild Things Are and Away We Go for the screen.
Seriously, that this guy has given the world McSweeney’s is enough to warrant his place on this list. And it’s just one piece of his puzzle. The guy’s published Stephen King, David Foster Wallace, Michael Chabon, and many more.
As role models go, can’t do much better.
Suggested Miscellany: 826 Valencia, an amazing place he founded to teach children how to write. His Author Page on McSweeney’s. Buy his goodies from us.
10 comments
Awesome choice and I hope this article gets someone to pick up a copy of genius.
Please make a public service announcement soon
AVOID SKYLINE AT ALL COSTS: HUGE PILE OF SHIT
2 for 2!
I'm glad his career didn't end with Might Magazine. Seriously one of the most interesting magazines I had the misfortune to fall in love with — and then see die.
Wrong. Wild Things and Away are awful hipster fanwank. His prose runs the gamut from pedestrian to dreadful. McSweeney's- a publication started to combat the "New Yorker story"- almost instantly became a repository for "McSweeney's stories" ie New Yorker stories minus the craft. Read Don Barthelme or Gary Lutz or Robert Walser or any of the other infinitely superior writers he's trying so hard to be.
Look at this guy. He tells me "Wrong.", meanwhile Dave Eggers is a celebrity and these other folks are not. Wrong. WRONG. Whose list is this again?
Away We Go is one of the worst movies I've ever paid to see. His other work is great. But yeah…career low=Away We Go.
Definitely 2 for 2, Nick. I saw Eggers at a book signing this year at Powell's Books in Portland, OR and a friend of mine (an amateur writer) gave Eggers a copy of a short story he had written. Eggers was so nice about it and despite being handed an epic ton of similar writings from fans, actually read and emailed my friend with comments. Class Act and a great writer.
Eggers is a fraud. He is nothing like the image he projects. In reality he is a manic control freak who regularly screws people over. Furthermore he is a terrible writer with no ideas of his own, which is why he's so keen to appropriate others stories these days.
Maybe not "wrong" but I do agree with comment #4. Eggers is overhyped and egotistical.
I miss Might. McSweeney's is good, too, but it's a little too precious on occasion. McSweeney's Press puts out a ton of good stuff (and a ton of bad stuff). Their pirate store in San Fran is a valuable resource, too.
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