The Neal Pollack Anthology of American Literature

First book by Neal Pollack, originally published by McSweeney's Books in hardback. HarperCollins is scheduled to publish the paperback in January 2002.

The books concerns the life of writer "Neal Pollack", Pollack's alter-ego, who is something of a combination of Norman Mailer, Hunter S. Thompson, and Jesus Christ. It is a collection of short, very funny essays, most of which had been previously published in McSweeney's, which extol the great deeds of the author, and which emphasize what a wonderful man he is.

As I hunch anew before the ominous Gorgon that is my computer, the cathode glow from the screen seems to me the waning light of the apocalypse itself. Will I be able to endure 24 more hours of rampaging notoriety? Will the gods endow me with the will to satisfy my ample fan base? I cannot assume how much E-mail I will receive, because when I guess, I am always wrong. Two thousand? Three thousand? Thirty-two thousand? Will my web page suffer a million hits, even though it is nearly Christmas? How many screen-freezes will I cause? How many browsers can one man, naked and bleary, possibly engage?