One Book, One Village comes full circle with author Dave Eggers
"We choose to live the way we do and participate the way we do," said Dave Eggers to an audience of more than 350 people who packed the Forest View Auditorium on Thursday, October 12 to hear the award-winning writer, editor and philanthropist speak as he touched on topics like privacy, surveillance and free choice -- all central themes in his dystopian novel The Circle, the 2017 One Book, One Village (OBOV) selection.
In an interview-style program moderated by the library's Info Services Supervisor Pam Schwarting, Eggers settled in and talked about his artistic path, which began in the first grade in the Lake Forest public schools and continued with "an uninterrupted string of awesome teachers" who helped spark his interest in writing. A focus on painting followed in middle school and high school.
"I trained as an artist, every bone in my body thought I'd be a painter," Eggers said.
It was as a sophomore studying at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign that Eggers switched his focus from painting to journalism and his life as a writer took hold.
"I came of age with a desktop computer and learned to write on a Mac," Eggers said and then joked, "I'm inherently a slob so the desktop allowed me to revise, revise, revise."
This process of writing, and re-writing, continues still today. Eggers, who describes himself as "an endless reviser," shared with the audience his typical work day. He writes in his home office in his converted garage where there is no phone or internet.
"It's taken me a long time to get settled and to remember where I am with what I'm writing," Eggers explained. "I have a chair, a wingback chair [and] I sit in that chair for eight hours to get 45 minutes done."
This process has resulted in an extensive eclectic body of work. Eggers is the author of 10 books including fiction and nonfiction. His debut, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, was a New York Times bestselling memoir and a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2001. Other works include Zeitoun, Heroes of the Frontier, A Hologram for the King, which was a finalist for the 2012 National Book Award, and the international bestseller, The Circle.
Eggers told the audience he took notes for about 10 years on situations involving individual's freedoms and privacy versus society's safety and right to know before writing The Circle.
"I do believe a human under surveillance is not free," Eggers said. He described the rise of social media and the increased use of measurements as "the new neediness." While reflecting about the choices his characters make in The Circle, Eggers described their situations as "51/49" since they deal with the ever-pressing struggle of finding ways for improving the world without stripping people of their rights.
Following the 60-minute onstage presentation, Eggers took questions from the audience, which highlighted some of his philanthropic work including 826 National, a network of tutoring centers around the country including one here in Wicker Park.
An Evening with Author Dave Eggers and his appearance in Arlington Heights came on the heels of Eggers receiving the prestigious Carl Sandburg Literary Award in Chicago on October 11. Reflecting on this honor, which is presented to a writer in recognition of the totality of his or her work, Eggers said, "I'm very humbled and happy that I can sit in my garage and write."