McSweeney’s vs. They Might Be Giants

Talented though he is, Dave Eggers was also the most overhyped author of 2000. For a while there you couldn’t go more than 10 minutes without hearing how the brilliant young memoirist of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius was shaking up the staid world of publishing. That has toned down, thankfully, but Eggers is still that rare author with MTV prestige and the clout to go with it. Mostly Eggers has used his superpowers for good, reportedly giving away most of his profits from AHWOSG to charity and spearheading some very interesting cross-discipline literary art. This live show, a barrier-busting confluence of the book and pop-music worlds is a good example: a bridge between media that’s not undertaken often enough. On one side of the stage will be Eggers, showing slides and reading from his and others’ work from his celebrated journal McSweeney’s . On the other, geek-rock popsters They Might Be Giants, who’ll counterpoint each reading with a song, much as they did on the companion CD to McSweeney’s #6. The result will surely not be boring. You might hear something from Eggers’ new novel You Shall Know Our Velocity , which he is selling exclusively at 100 independent bookstores across the country—in a move that’s either commercial suicide, unparalleled hubris, or another of his sly PR-boosting enigmatic turns. Eggers is also signing at Ruminator earlier the same day. Fitzgerald Theater, (651) 290-1221, www.mcsweeneys.net