Dave Eggers is a celebrity. After shooting to fame with “A
Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius,” the author has
successfully employed both his quirky, instantly recognizable
literary persona and his easygoing, normal-guy charm to become the
rock star of the book world.
But if there’s one thing to know about Dave Eggers,
it’s that he uses his powers of fame for good. This was
proven Saturday at Royce Hall, where Eggers brought together
authors, comedians and musicians for “Revenge of the Book
Eaters,” an evening of arts enjoyment intended to benefit his
own 826LA project, a non-profit organization that helps kids become
better writers.
Not only is Eggers a celebrity, he also has a good deal of indie
cred. Folk-pop outfit The Mountain Goats started off the musical
portion of the evening with mellow meditations on love and being a
good houseguest. Later, Rilo Kiley frontwoman Jenny Lewis took the
stage with just a guitar, played some haunting selections from her
recent solo album, and held the audience captive with her
evocative, earnest and spectacularly pretty vocal delivery. The
inclusion of acts such as these, raved over in the non-mainstream
media and their acceptance by the crowd at Royce, further
established Eggers as someone who is In Touch With The Young
People.
After an intermission and a reading by author Sarah Vowell and
Andy Richter, Jon Krasinski of NBC’s “The Office”
read a story written by a student from one of the 826 centers. The
story, about a cheetah who smells like a mud-filled pickle but is
trying to woo his true love nonetheless, elicited huge laughs from
the audience, as did Krasinki’s recitation; he appeared to be
reading the story for the first time and couldn’t contain his
glee.
Perhaps the only problem with “Revenge of the Book
Eaters” was that its creator was somewhat scarce as a stage
presence. Eggers took the mic to talk about 826LA and to introduce
a video about the 826 organizations. It’s great to know that
he is keeping the focus where it should be ““ the kids, yo
““ but the evening seemed incomplete without some of his
idiosyncratic, highly read-out-loud-able prose. However, there was
a chance for fans to get close: During a portion of the show in
which buckets were passed around for donations to 826LA, Eggers
himself carried one around and offered to hug anyone who gave $20
or more. He did a lot of hugging that night.
““ Nick Rudman