Reykjavík Grapevine - 09.10.2015, Page 6

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The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 1 — 2011
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Words and photo by York Underwood
6
Th Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 16 — 2015
I had met Dave Eggers the night before he
gave a talk at the Reykjavík Literary Festi-
val. He was having a drink at Reykjavík’s
oldest coffeeshop/unofficial Icelandic
hip-hop HQ, Prikið.
At Prikið, Dave was friendly. He told
me that after his talk, he would be meeting
for lunch with Kári Stefánsson at the offic-
es of deCODE Genetics, and that members
of the press were welcome. He invited me
to come along—actually, he signed my
copy of ‘The Circle’: “See you Tomorrow,
Dave Eggers.”
Pepsi Max
I arrived at deCode fifteen minutes early.
The lunch should be commencing at
noon, supposedly, allegedly, from what I’d
been told.
No one at deCode knew what I was
talking about.
I checked the Reykjavík Literary Festi-
val website, but nothing. No one at deCode
knew who Dave Eggers was, let alone his
lunch plans. I wandered out the back door
and paced around the genetic research
company’s basketball court. Kári Stefáns-
son is crazy about basketball, I’d later
learn. I walked back inside and decided to
leave.
That’s when Dave Eggers got dropped
off in front of deCODE’s offices.
Dave headed to the front desk and
told the clerk he was here to see Kári. A
quick phone call and we were given visi-
tor's passes, led through security, and led
upstairs, where the geneticist awaited.
“This is York, from the Grapevine,”
Dave introduced me to Kári. “I told him he
could join the lunch, but you can kick him
out if you want. He’s from Canada.”
“No, he’s a good kid,” said Kári, whom
I have never met. “We’re glad to have him
here.”
Kári led us into an empty boardroom,
with two spots at the long table set for
lunch. Dave sat down on the other side of
the table and I sat next to Kári. He urged
me to eat. The lunch consisted of a salad
with pita bread, sourdough bread, chicken
wings, and two bottles of Pepsi Max.
“Those people who are under the
delusion that they’re immortal”
Kári pressed Dave about the possibilities
of starting a tutoring centre here in Reyk-
javík, similar to 826 Valencia, and what
Dave’s role would be. Kári shifted the con-
versation to his past and his inability to do
drugs.
“I was never good at smoking weed,”
Kári said. “It wasn’t really in line with the
things I wanted to do, such as science. Did
you ever smoke weed?”
“No, I never smoked anything,” said
Dave.
“See?” Kári turned to me. “I have
smoked weed and he hasn’t.”
Dave talked about how the behav-
iour of writers, artists and musicians has
changed. Where alcohol and drugs used
to be more prevalent, everyone is calmer
nowadays, medicated with antidepres-
sants. Kári explained that his research had
suggested higher levels of schizophrenia
amongst creative people than within the
regular population in Iceland. Depression,
however, was only more common with
writers. Kári segued the discussion into
tales of his younger years and his dedica-
tion to fitness and health. “I’m the same
weight as when I was 26.”
Then he paused.
“Dave, you’re a good novelist,
a good writer.”
“Uhh, Thank you.”
“I can do something for you. Both your
parents died of cancer, correct?”
“Yes, that’s true.” It’s the subject matter
of ‘A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering
Genius’.
“Why don’t you let me take a sample of
your DNA for sequencing?”
“I don’t know, uh. We’ll see. Do you
have something for me to take with me?”
“We’ll do it right now. I’ll have the re-
sults in a month. Then you can monitor
yourself better. You’ll know what to be
screening for, specifically.”
“I learnt from my Dad, he was a law-
yer, to never make a decision at the table.
I’ll think it over.”
“Dave, you’re not one of those people
who are under the delusion that they’re
immortal, are you?”
Kári sat back in his chair, legs crossed,
with a relaxed body but stiff neck. Kári is
blind in one eye and he never took it off of
Dave, who looked down, contemplatively,
before he regained eye contact with Kári.
They approached conversations differ-
ently: Dave was deliberate and cautious,
while Kári seemed focused and planned.
“The brain is an organ”
“You know, Dave,” said Kári. “I think what
you have done is only possible by some-
one with your background. People from
anywhere else, no matter how smart or
talented, wouldn’t come up with what you
have, or done what you’ve done.”
“My background? What do you mean?
Irish Catholic?”
“I believe thoughts might be passed
down, genetically.”
“Is there any scientific evidence
for that?”
“The brain is an organ and thoughts
are the product of the shape and function
of this organ, which is dependent on ge-
netics. We don’t know how thoughts are
formed yet, but my guess is that they can
be passed down, genetically.”
“I like that. That’s really interesting.”
Kári paused for a moment, “Look,
if you give me a sample of your DNA. I
can give you the information to properly
screen yourself, so it could detect anything
really early.”
“I get screened regularly and I live a
healthy lifestyle. My life is quite sedentary.
I write.”
“This from someone who wrote, ‘You
Shall Know Our Velocity’. You seem ner-
vous about this. Do you feel unsafe giving
me your DNA?”
Dave looks down again. “I’m not sure
how much information about myself I
want available out there. It’s private. I’m a
very private person and I’ve been burnt in
the past.”
“When in history has biomedical in-
formation ever been used to harm anyone?
When?”
“Let’s just move on. We were here to
discuss other things, correct?”
“You’ve made me mad now,” Kári said
and looked away from the table, almost
mimicking Dave.
Dave leaned forward in his chair,
raised his hands and chuckled to himself.
“Oh come on, I’m not trying to upset you.
I really love what you’re doing here and I
respect it. I wouldn’t be here for this lunch
if I didn’t.”
“You see this, Dave?” Kári pressed
his tongue in his cheek and rocked in his
chair. “You see this? I’m only joking. I just
don’t understand why you wouldn’t take
this opportunity to get screened.”
“I feel like I’m taking all the precau-
tions that I need to and I’m not sure what
I would do with the information. I know
cancer runs in my family.”
A line gets crossed
I finished my second glass of Pepsi Max
and noticed that Dave had only eaten
pieces of bread. He had stopped eating.
The salad, pita, and chicken wings sat
untouched. He didn’t refill his glass with
Pepsi Max. Kári encouraged me to eat up.
Kári leaned forward and uncrossed
his legs.
“You have to start worrying about real
things, Dave,” said Kári. “You owe it to the
world to give your DNA. The understand-
ing of science and breakthroughs in medi-
cine have come from the collection of data
and samples. It’s how new breakthroughs
are made.”
This is when Dave asked Kári if there
was a kit he could take with him. Kári
commented on Dave’s book, ‘The Circle’,
and reassured him of the safety of any
medical information Kári would obtain.
“I’ve had medical information leaked
before.”
“You mean about your sister?”
“Yes.”
“Dave, you have children, right? You
owe it to your children to get your DNA
analyzed by me.”
“Ok, you’ve crossed a line.”
“I have not.”
“You have. I forgive you. But’s that’s
crossing a line.”
Dave finished his glass of Pepsi Max.
Kári fell back languidly in his chair and
crossed his legs.
Kári lowered his voice, “When I was
at the University of Chicago, I lived in the
same building as Saul Bellow. Do you like
Saul Bellow?”
“I think he’s the greatest American
writer of sentences. ”
“I used to watch basketball with him. I
would be in Saul Bellow's flat, eating Chi-
cago deep dish pizza, watching the Chi-
cago Bulls and drinking champagne.”
“That’s great! You were there at the
same time as him. I didn’t know that.”
“I treated Allan Bloom.”
“Really?”
“Yes, I knew about it before Saul Bel-
low outed him in 'Ravelstein'.”
“Wow.”
“I only wish we could have started
treatment earlier.”
“This is the kind of thing I’m talking
about. Maybe Allan Bloom never wanted
this information to be public.”
“You have to start worrying about real
things. What are you writing about now?”
“I’m writing about fair-trade coffee.”
With deCODE, Kári has managed to
get a large number of participants to do-
nate their DNA and grant access to their
medical records. deCODE gave a t-shirt to
anyone who consented.
Dave never gave Kári a DNA sample.
“I just don’t feel comfortable about it right now. I will
go home and think about it. Can you send me a kit? To
take a swab or something?” “Yes I can send a kit. This
is the best genetics research laboratory in the world.
You need to worry about real things. I got through
‘The Circle’. It’s not your best book. This information of yours
will never be tied to you.”
DeCoding
Dave
My lunch with Dave Eggers
and Kári Stefánsson