The Neal Pollack Anthology of American Literature [Hardcover]

Neal Pollack (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2000

This collection of satirical essays by the wildly clever Neal Pollack was among the first books published by McSweeney's. The author fabricates for himself a super-inflated ego, and goes on to apply that persona's preposterously offensive and short-sighted opinions to issues ranging from race relations to wild teenagers, but more than anything else, to his own (albeit fictional) stunning accomplishments.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

It should come as no surprise that The Neal Pollack Anthology of American Literature is the inaugural title from McSweeney's Books, the publishing arm of Dave Eggers's literary quarterly McSweeney's. There appears to be two Neal Pollacks at work in the literary world. There's the legendary award-winning writer who has covered such global crises as the Spanish Civil War and 1999's "Battle in Seattle"; who has been married multiple times and romantically linked to Lara Flynn Boyle and Zadie Smith; and who counts Bishop Desmond Tutu and the Utah Jazz's Karl Malone among his closest friends. Then there's the real Neal Pollack, the young writer responsible for this comical tribute to the hard-drinking, fistfighting, wounded White Male egos behind the banged-up typewriters of first-person journalism. The high jinks begin in the table of contents, with such bloated chapter headings as "The Burden of Internet Celebrity" and "Why Am I So Handsome?"--hinting at what's to come. There's a detailed chronology included ("1959: Goes to Hollywood. Blacklisted.") and a nifty Zelig-like collection of photographs capturing Pollack (shirtless, more often than not, in his khaki photojournalist vest and aviator shades) yachting with J.F.K.; posing with a mud-caked platoon in Vietnam; and tuxedoed, escorting Mia Farrow to Truman Capote's Black and White Ball. Highlights include a transcript of Pollack's surprise appearance during a 1996 taping of Oprah's "other favorite author," Toni Morrison, where he offers this nugget to readers: "Oprah expanded my readership like no television program ever; not even my brief stint on Laugh-In gave me such wide exposure to Ma and Pa United States." Despite the one-joke tone of this slim volume, Pollack's clever wit prevails throughout, leaving a highly entertaining satire in its wake. --Brad Thomas Parsons

Review

I know first-hand that Neal is the most arrogant, evil-minded, and potentially dangerous figure in American journalism today. -- Jann Wenner

Neal Pollack sticks his fantastic, custom-made ponyskin cowboy boot into the big rectum of every first person journalist. -- Matt Klam

One of the greatest satires of authorial vanity to come along since the actual career of Norman Mailer. -- Rolling Stone

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: McSweeney's; First Edition edition (September 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0970335504
• ISBN-13: 978-0970335500
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,102,478 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but the same old McSweeney's, December 11, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Neal Pollack Anthology of American Literature (Hardcover)

Since neither the McSweeney crowd nor their fans have shown the slightest interest in providing anything resembling an informative description of Pollack's book (I guess that would be missing the point), I thought I would at least try, without giving away too much. What we have here is a slim volume of twenty or so parodies of journalistic hubris, most of them shameless confessional profiles ("I marveled at what a different person I'd turned out to be than my grandfather, he the world's largest manufacturer of tube socks and low-grade nuclear weapons, me a free-lance magazine writer, published writer, founder of an experimental kindergarten in the Bronx, and male fashion model.") told by the ubiquitous Gonzo hack, Neal Pollack. There's Pollack in Paris ("Unfortunately, as usual, the waiter didn't speak English, but I communicated to him by rubbing my stomach and clawing insanely at my bloodshot eyes."), in Cuba ("I have been in Cuba for eight days now, and have had sex with 65 different women . . . [One] became my slave for a day after I gave her my copy of The New Yorker's summer fiction issue."), and on "Oprah" with Toni Morrison ("Well, we must form a mutual admiration society. I almost quit writing after I read "Beloved," and I still love "The Pinkest Eye"). But he's at his best on the subject of his own talent: "As for my flaws, my writing is often so damn good that I have a hard time following my own act. Nevertheless, I usually succeed." Nothing original here; Pope did this sort of thing back in the 1740's in "Martinus Scriblerus," as did Irving in "Salmagundi" (perhaps "McSweeney's" earliest NY predecessor) in the early 1800's. At least Pollack knows that this sort of satire works best when it's brief. That said, the best things about the book are the title and the cover. As for the Pollack/Eggers rumor: I think Pollack's new in-laws in Nashville (a very unMcSweeney place) would be suprised to learn that their new son-in-law is really Dave Eggers.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lacerates self-important, pompous journalism., October 8, 2000

By 

Frank Lynch "frank_lynch" (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Neal Pollack Anthology of American Literature (Hardcover)

Will the "thought piece" that pollutes our magazines and newspapers ever be the same after this book?

Probably.

Unfortunately.

But that's not due to Pollack's efforts: he has adopted a persona and style here which is outrageous and hilarious, and lampoons so many of the tedious articles we've read in the tony magazines. He has puffed up his free-lance narrator in marvelous fashion, with the most hilariously adulatory jacket I've ever read, and a self-conscious prose that is worth sharing with all your friends. One very small example will suffice: on a dock, eating his breakfast banana, the free-lance journalist writes, "my knees trembled with the knowledge that this could be my last food until lunch."

No, Pollack will not change the world with this sublime volume. Not yet. Would that he could!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good start, Annoying after a while, May 24, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Neal Pollack Anthology of American Literature (Hardcover)

Pollack has an different style using a near solipsistic approach to everything. At first it is funny. His aping of classic texts gives the same feeling as getting an obscure joke on 'The Simpsons' - you feel happy about being so smart and everyone else is soooo bourgeois.... But after reading through five or ten of the shorts, it gets tiresome. Every piece seems to be the same story in a different setting. I would rather read some actual literature than this joke book.