An Interview With Dave Eggers From 2000

Writer Dave Eggers

Recently, Matt Ferner, a columnist over at Smalldoggies Magazine, sent me an old interview conducted by someone I believe at the Harvard Advocate, with Dave Eggers. This took place right as A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius was becoming a phenomenon, and McSweeney’s was in full swing. It’s long, and it’s worth every minute of your time, especially if like me, you are trying to make things that have value and you just don’t care what anyone else things. Some notable quotes, and then a link to the interview in its entirety afterward.

“We care about doing what we want to do creatively. We want to be interested in it. We want it to challenge us. We want it to be difficult. We want to reinvent the stupid thing every time. Would I ever think, before I did something, of how those with sellout monitors would respond to this or that move? I would not. The second I sense a thought like that trickling into my brain, I will put my head under the tires of a bus.”

“The thing is, I really like saying yes. I like new things, projects, plans, getting people together and doing something, trying something, even when it’s corny or stupid. I am not good at saying no. And I do not get along with people who say no.”

“What matters is that you do good work. What matters is that you produce things that are true and will stand.”

“What matters is that you want to see and make and do, on as grand a scale as you want, regardless of what the tiny voices of tiny people say. Do not be critics, you people, I beg you.”

Read the complete interview with Dave Eggers from 2000 here.

(Photo Via: Portfolio)