Josiah is auditioning writers to replace Hunter S. Thompson in the hipster canon; the leading candidate so far has been Dave Eggers of Heartbreaking McSweeney's fame. I objected to the consensus, mostly because "Eggers, Schmeggers" is fun to say -- and because I prefer many of the writers he's discovered over Eggers himself, whose political writing can be obnoxiously self-indulgent.
But Eggers has a fine interview in the Onion AV Club this week, talking about his shifting opinions and his discomfort with fiction. "I always had a hard time with fiction. It does feel like driving a car in a clown suit. You're going somewhere, but you're in costume, and you're not really fooling anybody. You're the guy in costume, and everybody's supposed to forget that and go along with you. Obviously, it can work, it works all the time—well, it doesn't always work."
He also gets his digs in on snarky criticism, a perennial frustration of his magazines. "What deserves that kind of bile that people throw out? Sometimes they throw it out at literary fiction, which is like dressing up in full body armor to go attack an ice-cream cone. I mean, just take it easy."
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My newest writing, mostly bile-free, is up on the Pulse web site. You can find the links at right. There's lots of stuff about cavemen and demons, though I couldn't find any convincing link between the two subjects. There must be one, because demonic cavemen would make such a nice subject for a short story. I'm sure Hunter Thompson wrote one at some point.
Posted by mesh at February 23, 2005 03:33 PM | TrackBackDoes it have to be political? What about Sedaris? He's uber hip.
Posted by: John Totten at February 23, 2005 05:14 PMI really don't see Hunter fitting in the Hipster canon, at least, I certainly didn't mean it in the sense you guys are talking about. Remember, it was FAUX-hipster/intellectuals. It's folks who fancy themselves independent of the mainstream, but only really put forth HST & Vonnegut as authors they're familiar with, or who are their cultural gatekeepers.
Sweet mary, it's amazing how a post will get away from you.
Posted by: JosiahQ at February 23, 2005 05:31 PMYour original dig was funny, but I think it sparked conversation because there is a longing for writers who communicate the cultural mood. The faux hipsters don't read anymore, anyway. I'm not sure if they ever did.
Posted by: mesh at February 23, 2005 06:31 PMIn fact -- and this is the embarassing part -- I can't read. Not a word. It really makes the journalism and blogging thing awkward, but it does explain my long silences and the fact that I got involved in a serious argument of a satirical question.
Posted by: mesh at February 23, 2005 06:35 PMAll I have to say was that the interview with Eggers was great, and acknowledge that I love his writing despite how self-indulgent it is.
Posted by: KornSt@r at February 23, 2005 08:04 PMThough I have not beheld it with mine own eyes, I have heard his recent collection of short stories is bound in leather. Come to think of it, that is pretty self-indulgent.
Anywho, thanks for the interview tip.
Posted by: Lowen at February 24, 2005 08:29 AMThe problem with hipsters is. . .I don't know. I don't know why I'm even chiming in on this definition, because I'm not hip. But the problem, in my mind, is that Dave Eggers is not the writer HST was. And I am one of those attracted to the Gonzo journalist's self-destructive appetite. And maybe that is the problem with hipsters; they talk about destroying themselves but they don't really understand it. Acting like you do understand it shows that you don't. And, somehow, I don't know why, that manifests itself in the writing. There is all this chatter about "desire" as a force in writing, and I think the realization that desire is a f*cked up mess but that you desire (and desire desire) anyway is what a HST, Kerouac, Hemmingway recognized in the self-destructive. That's a rare thing.
Posted by: paul at February 24, 2005 07:30 PM