YankTheChain's Eric Rosenfield reviews Heidi Julavits' literary criticism mag, The Believer, and makes a case for Why Dave Eggers Isn't So Bad and Why The Believer Isn't All Crap. [My description; not his.] His argument sounds familiar: Eggers/Julavits/McSweeney's have their faults, but at least they're trying to stir things up. The less polite version usually goes something like this: "Dave Eggers sucks. McSweeney's sucks. But, hey, indie publishing is cool. (Very small, nearly insignificant) kudos to Eggers on that one!" A friend of Rosenfield's disagrees: "Our own JF Quackenbush has trouble discussing Eggers without using phrases like 'subliterate postmodern flippancy.' I told him I was going down the McSweeney's Store in Brooklyn for research and asked him if he wanted me to ask anything; he said, 'please ask them to knock it off.'"
Regarding Dave Eggers [YankTheChain]