Another Dave Eggers hoax?

March 1, 2002 2:34 PM

Another Dave Eggers hoax? Might be. I haven't found any confirmation anywhere else, but a hoax like this would be ghastly.
posted by macadamiaranch (12 comments total)

My god. That's horrible. I've met Dave and his brothers at a booksigning. He's a good guy. Full of shit, but most of us are. I can't decide which is worse: if this is true or if it isn't.
posted by ColdChef at 2:42 PM on March 1, 2002

also found here pagesix.com
through www.haddock.org
posted by monkeyJuice at 2:49 PM on March 1, 2002

Dave is supposed to be on Studio 360 today, it's on KCRW right now, but I'm missing it.
posted by jonah at 3:49 PM on March 1, 2002

"While several sources suggested the story of Beth’s suicide could actually be another one of Eggers’ elaborate media hoaxes, Gessen says, 'That would fall out of the realm of any possible human behavior.' "

I can't believe there are humans who still insist there exists a realm of possible human behavior. There is no such animal.
posted by ZachsMind at 4:19 PM on March 1, 2002

This is horrible if it's true, but somehow I'm skeptical. According to the article (the New York Post article and the PageSix.com article are the same, and written by the same person), Ms. Eggers committed suicide "last November." If the story's true, it would have showed up someplace before now.
posted by kirkaracha at 4:34 PM on March 1, 2002

No obit easily findable in the archives of the Modesto Bee, and no listing in the Social Security Death index (which is updated monthly).

I'm pretty skeptical, too.
posted by evac at 6:23 PM on March 1, 2002

Let the Kaycee Nicole 2k2 Sweepstakes begin.
posted by artifex at 6:31 PM on March 1, 2002

I'd say nypost hoax before Eggers (though I can't stand him). If not, that's the end of his career.
posted by EngineBeak at 7:50 PM on March 1, 2002

A person as young as Beth Eggers would be far less likely to show up in the Social Security Death Index, because there probably wouldn't be any real reason to notify the SSA of her death. The main reason you report a death to the SSA is because if they find out they've been sending monthly checks to a dead person, the next of kin stands a decent chance of ending up in jail. If the deceased wasn't getting any monthly checks, there's no need to report her.

By the way, here's a permalink to the New York Post/Page Six article. The links at the top of the thread only point to the current day's gossip column.
posted by aaron at 9:54 AM on March 2, 2002

Just to toss some fodder out there, check out The Beth Eggers Exclusive and the rebuttal piece from The McSweeney site.
posted by Sqwerty at 10:06 AM on March 2, 2002

When I went to the link in the front page posting, I thought the post referred to the "Corey vs. Corey" show as a possible Eggers hoax. And I didn't buy for a second that the article was real. Of course Dave Eggers wrote that. Scary.
posted by droob at 4:08 PM on March 2, 2002

More fuel for the fire, from the author of the story that ran on PageSix (which, of course, is the gossip section of the NY Post, whichever site you find the article on); and some possible confirmation.
posted by dhartung at 1:27 PM on March 3, 2002