Crystal Eaters
Excerpt from Crystal Eaters (originally published in Thought Catalog) The sky is laced with...
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Shane Jones
Posts by Shane Jones
The Cow in the Lake
The Cow in The Lake (originally published in Diagram) At the lake I saw the cow. This is something...
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NOW THAT DAVE EGGERS HAS BEEN ACCUSED OF PLAGIARISM, WE FINALLY HAVE SOMETHING IN COMMON
Dave Eggers doesn’t give a shit about Kate Losse, the author who recently accused Eggers of plagiarizing her book, The Boy Kings, for his new novel, The Circle—nor should he. Authors accusing and being accused of plagiarism is nothing new, and to the world outside of publishing, it’s a minor scandal. There’s nothing Miley about a white nerd calling out another white nerd. Still, Losse’s claim is somehow damaging to Eggers, even though it is a weak one. She writes, “From all appearances, it is an unnervingly similar book, and I wrote it first,” later admitting that she hasn’t even read the book—The Circle comes out today—and basing her accusations on an excerpt only. Losse’s claim, her name, and her book, will no doubt fall from public eye quickly, while Eggers zips around the country on his book tour and collects both cash and accolades, which all now come with the specter of Losse, if only because both Dave Eggers the guy and Dave Eggers the brand had to publicly refute the charges, going so far as to say he had no idea Losse’s book existed:
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The Pram in the Hall
One of the most popular quotations about creativity and parenthood is Cyril Connolly’s: “There is no more somber enemy of good art than the pram in the hall.” This aphorism, snobbish in its dismissal of human distraction, has been passed down through generations of artists as a black warning banner—Have Children, Be Creatively Screwed Forever.
Having a child isn’t easy, of course. When my son, Julian, was born sixteen months ago, I became intimately acquainted with sleep deprivation and time constraints. The third night after we’d brought him home, I remember being in bed, so mentally and physically exhausted that when I looked up at where the ceiling and the wall met, I saw the seam crack open, revealing a horizon of white light and red lava.
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