Last night as I continued my attempt to evade doing anything worthwhile until I absolutely have to, I began exploring this My Library website that you can see to the right. This counts as good Friday night fun for a bookslut like me. I looked up the one up-and-coming published author with whom I've had any personal interaction, Chris Bachelder, who was my English instructor at Governor's School. Turns out Chris just published his second novel, entitled U.S.!, which supposes that Upton Sinclair (author of The Jungle among numerous other muckraking efforts) is constantly assassinated and then resurrected to spread his socialist views. According to reviews, it's got the same biting, satiric take on American society as Chris' first novel, Bear v. Shark, to hilarious results.

It's pretty awesome, watching from afar as one of my mentors gets the success he very richly deserves. Chris was an amazingly nice, funny, and utterly grounded guy when I had his class every morning for six weeks during the summer of 2000. People are comparing him to Vonnegut and Don DeLillo, but I'll always remember him for his love of Woody Guthrie and veneration of Lorrie Moore. To see him achieving success on a big level (he's been published in McSweeney's, which is not only an amazing lit journal but also the project of my boyfriend Dave Eggers) is pretty fantastic, and you should all check out his books if you see them.

Thinking of Chris reminded me once again of just what an amazing and perception-shattering experience Governor's School was. It's still the most challenging, constructive, and open intellectual environment I've ever known - Carolina, love it as I do, couldn't compete. That place, that motley group of 16- and 17-year-old kids, felt seeped in talent and potential. It's hard to describe in words the electricity in that atmosphere, but I know I've never felt that level of creativity and brains and radicalism and ferver anywhere else.

Of course, as happens with most things that dare to challenge the status quo and engage the intellect, lots of folks feel threatened by Governor's School. The notion of teaching teenagers to think for themselves is pretty insidious, I must admit. But it's also one of the few institutions I've encountered that gives me hope in our future leaders, artists, and thinkers. The fact that I, as a pimply high school English geek and amateur writer, got to study with one of the brightest young postmodern novelists of his generation seems like a good testament to the impact of Governor's School.

Here's a great editorial from Ginny Franks at the DTH on the political threat to Governor's School, and why it should be saved:

The N.C. Governor's School provides the right education - Opinion