Best Pretentious Author Lecture

Widely celebrated for his book, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers drew a huge crowd composed mostly of hipsters and suburbanites. While his lecture had its ups and downs, it succeeded in dividing the crowd into those who thought he really was a genius and those who thought he was a pompous ass. His panel, with two dermatologists who discussed itching, started out swimmingly. But as it progressed, the audience began to make noises of exasperation, and scattered applause ensued when someone asked Eggers, "Why are you doing this when we want to hear you talk about your work?" And while his reading of his story written from a dog's point of view was moving, that still didn't stop the flow of people streaming out. Perhaps one of the more entertaining parts of the evening, though, was when a member of the audience, who got to join the itching panel, remained there for the rest of the lecture and injected his comments along with Eggers'.