McSweeney’s distributor’s bankruptcy left Dave Eggers & Co. $130,000 in debt. How to make cash? “We were thinking of different schemes for a while: A talent show, a book of liquid-diet recipes—we discussed that,” says publisher Eli Horowitz. But a clearance sale and eBay auction of art from the likes of David Byrne is it for now. “I’m sure if we keep this going, we’ll get more and more misguided,” Horowitz adds. “We’re never sure how far to expand into ridiculousness.”

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Related:

• Archive: “Intelligencer”
• Articles by Boris Kachka
• Table of Contents: Jun 25, 2007 issue of New York | Subscribe!