One Man Zeitgeist: Dave Eggers, Publishing and Publicity

by Hamilton, Caroline D.

• ISBN13: 9781441166968
• ISBN10: 1441166963
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-10-21
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic

Summary

One Man Zeitgeist: Dave Eggers, Publishing and Publicity undertakes the first extensive analysis of the works of Dave Eggers, an author who has grown from a small-time media upstart into one of the most influential author-publishers of the twenty-first century. Eggers' rise to fame is charted in careful detail, offering analysis of the circumstances of his success and their effects on the production of his literary oeuvre. As both a memoirist and novelist Eggers has distinguished himself from his cohort of young American authors by insisting on seizing the reins of his publishing output. The nature of this independent streak is given attention in this study, particularly the cultural circumstances of a digitalised, consumer society in which books and literature are primarily commodities. Hamilton examines this spirit of independence as both a practical and figurative state in Eggers' works, and seeks to address the reasons why in a contemporary, globalised society independence is not only personally gratifying for Eggers but also a popularly successful strategy for producing books.

Author Biography

Caroline-Hamilton is a McKenzie Research Fellow in the Department of Publishing and Communications at the University of Melbourne, Australia.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. vi
Introduction	p. 1
Finding the 'Right Reader'	p. 11
'Just Like You': Fame, Narcissism and the Self-Fulfilling Prophesy of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius	p. 28
Mistakes He Knew He Was Making	p. 45
A Publisher's Progress: You Shall Know Our Velocity and the McSweeney's Publishing Model	p. 65
The Optimist	p. 84
Notes	p. 98
Works Cited	p. 110
Index	p. 135
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