---

Comments, possibly informed.

Tim Wilson
Daytona Beach, Florida, USA
timatollah@mackandtim.net
Personal Homepage
Professional Homepage

 
Shiver Me Timbers

I had just finished reading Roger Ebert's review of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl -- please, no laughter. I freely admit that Pirates of the Caribbean is my favorite ride at Disney World (and that the one at Disneyland is somehow better). "Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me" Don't agree? Maybe you should take a ride somewhere smaller -- when I realized I had just read this paragraph:

The author Dave Eggers reportedly plans to open a Pirates' Store, complete with planks measured and made to order, and "The Curse of the Black Pearl" plays like his daydreams.

In fact, author (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius -- the tough part is that it is a heartbreaking work of staggering genius) and McSweeny's driving force Eggers has his store open and doing business, even if online shopping is not available at this point.

The store is part of the 826 Valencia project which gives SF Bay Area kids an opportunity to write and to learn about writing. Eggers has his detractors, but this 826 Valencia project sounds great. Check out some of the kids' output here.

One of the other projects Eggers is involved in is The Believer, a literary review work based on the idea that criticism can be something positive, something more than just a string of snarky comments. It's a nice idea, and I hope it takes.
posted by Tim Wilson at 9:21 AM