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Rumpus Book ClubThe Rumpus Long Interview with Dave Eggers
Dave Eggers has a new nonfiction book, Zeitoun, coming out in a few weeks, fast on the heels of Away We Go, a movie he co-wrote with his wife, Vendela Vida, and directed by Sam Mendes. Dave talks to The Rumpus about the new book, his optimism for print publications, what the kids are reading, and the advantage of attending a state school.
The Rumpus: We both went to the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. We didn’t know each other, but we both ended up as writers living in San Francisco. What’s the connection? Is U of I the best university in the country?
Dave Eggers: The weird thing is that I knew your sister Victoria while we were in school. She and I worked at the Daily Illini together. I guess you and I didn’t meet until maybe 2002 in San Francisco. You used to come talk to my high-school classes at 826 Valencia. Wait, I didn’t answer the question.
Is Illinois the best state and the best state school? I don’t think anyone’s ever debated either of those questions. Not seriously, at least. Illinois is the best state, and U of I is everyone’s favorite university located in East-Central Illinois.
Rumpus: This book, Zeitoun, is coming out very close to Away We Go.
Eggers: It’s weird, because they happened over such a long period of time. I don’t know; I was working on Zeitoun back in 2006. That book was pretty slow-going. It took an incredible amount of research. And the first draft of Away We Go was written in 2005. So both have been sort of slow processes. It’s odd that they both landed this summer, but it didn’t seem right to push Zeitoun back to 2010 just because the movie was scheduled this summer.
Rumpus: Zeitoun is nonfiction, set during Katrina in New Orleans and its chaotic aftermath, as seen through the eyes of a Muslim-American family, the Zeitouns, who were living Uptown during the storm. I didn’t hear about Zeitoun until a few weeks ago when you printed a copy for me, which I briefly considered selling on eBay. You were pretty quiet about it.
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June 9th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
Great interview, Steve! Eggers constantly impresses me. I saw Away We Go and am reading What is the What, so I am being reminded lately of how talented he is as a writer and a go-getter. But what most impressed me most about this interview was his ability to not give you credit while you were fishing for a compliment. Nice work, Dave!
June 9th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
Wonderful interview, I can’t wait to pick up a PRINT copy of Zeitoun!
June 9th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
That is not how I pictured the upcoming McSweeney’s newspaper edition. It’ll be on that days news? It’s going to have a business plan to help out small newspapers? Interesting stuff.
June 10th, 2009 at 4:49 am
Eggers is designing a newspaper? Good news. But as he said here, it will: “look and read like a daily newspaper.” Isn’t that one of the main problems of the daily newspaper? They are too large, with too many folds and cannot be read comfortably in the tight quarters of a subway. Not to mention the difficulies of navigation.
The newspaper needs a redesign as an object, not just a new business model.
Please McSweeney’s, you redesigned the book, now redesign the newspaper!
June 10th, 2009 at 5:37 am
Dave Eggers on TED:
http://www.ted.com/talks/dave_eggers_makes_his_ted_prize_wish_once_upon_a_school.html
June 10th, 2009 at 11:59 am
Can I get in on this U of I, SF, south Sudan convergence?
Just read What is the What before coming to Juba, capital of the south, where I’ll be working for the UN for the next year… and yes I graduated from Champaign in 93, lived in SF from 94-98…
Thanks to Dave for providing a timely glimpse of the complex situation in Sudan, and a note for the record: VAD, a Dinka, came across as a saint, and south Sudan’s hero, John Garang, was also Dinka…two facts that left me with a rosy view of the dominant tribe. I was then surprised to learn from colleagues and friends here that the Dinka have mixed reviews to say the least, and are “known” to be an agressive, even violent tribe, who have made the most of their association with Garang by dominating Government and Army positions and otherwise making off with many of the spoils of war. I share the generalization as just that, not as an endorsement, but rather to broaden the picture for interested readers.
June 11th, 2009 at 8:18 am
With positivity like that… Dave will have a forever fan in me! It’s such an invigorating breath of fresh air to hear someone in the business talk about how print publishing is far from dead. YESSSSSS!
June 21st, 2009 at 3:50 am
How interesting… and how wonderful that Dave is addressing the issue of print’s inevitable and necessary revitalisation. I worked on an essay last year about how McSweeney’s is at the forefront of defeating this supposed hegemony of the virutal text, and this proves it!
August 18th, 2009 at 10:23 pm
Wow! Listening to Dave Eggers talk about this stuff is like watching a hero discover that he has even more powers than he knew about. The writing, and humanitarian efforts that are offshoots of the writing are sort of a known and appreciated quantity at this stage, but still fascinating. Even more compelling to me though, is the chance to hear Eggers talk about his efforts to create a sustainable business model for serious journalism. Illuminating, exciting and hopeful to say the least. It’s like he’s firing a flaming arrow across the night sky, allowing us all to see the landscape in a different way. It’s going to be up to the rest of us to realize that we too can light up the darkness with our own arrows. That might just be me getting a little too excited, but in this case, I’m more than happy to be excited. Trying to ensure that we live in a world with a free and effective press is a noble cause indeed, so fire away Dave. Thanks to Stephen Elliot for putting together a fascinating interview!