Eggers’ Life As An Example of the Media’s Love of Misery Exhibitions

Not for nothing did Stephen King call his writing-obsessed fan book Misery. With so many formerely disfiguring diseases easily cured, exhibiting gross physical externalities is no longer titillating. So we turn instead to the modern literature of psychological exhibitionism. It’s no longer sufficient that writers write well, it’s more interesting if they can demonstrate a fractured and benighted family structure. Eggers’ life can be seen from many viewpoints, but the media’s continued fascinated delight in constructing a tale of family disintegration is notable for its repetition. One small problem is that Eggers is running out of family members…

I fully expect this trend of desolation exhibitonism to continue, and Modern Art’s infatuation with the display of bodily excreta is perhaps groundbreaking. Soon we will have a whole new literature of excretion.