The inestimable Tito Perez sends along this Sam Sacks item concerning Dave Eggers’ Best American Nonrequired Reading Series, largely because of the Vollmann shoutout. Sacks decries the “wriggling spinelessness of [Eggers’] reviewers” just before going nuclear on the Eggman. The review is interesting for a few reasons: (1) I had thought that the New York Press was catering to centrist suburbanites under the new regime. Apparently, this isn’t the case with the literary section. (Will we see more Mark Ames-style takedowns?) (2) Sacks is quite right to point out that Eggers’ position as promoter and writer has gone largely uncriticized. I’m not sure if declaring Eggers “the Don King of literature” is the most effective way to draw a complete portrait. But if the New York snarkmeisters are going to hire doofuses like Steve Almond to savage indie media, they may as well be consistent in their targets. Certainly, they don’t pull punches like this on Fleet Street.
© 2005, Edward Champion. All rights reserved.
Indie media? Indie media? Why didn’t they come up with that term instead of “blog” six or so years ago? Man, we’d be cooler than The Killers.
I am cooler than the killers
I don’t know man. Cooler than the new new-wave? I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt, and also because the name “Tito” is amazing, but unless you wear a white blazer, or appeared in a zombie flick, it’s gonna be over pretty soon. No offense.
Once I was an extra in a made for tv movie starring Casey “you may remember me from Young Guns” Siemaszko.
I’m calling this quits because 1) you’re part of the indie media, 2) you’ve spent time onscreen with a member of the Young Guns, 3) and your name is “Tito”. T-bone, I’ll say it: throw in an IMDB post on Repo Man, and I’ll officially declare you cooler than Brandon Flowers myself. Please accept my apologies and let me be your friend.