This week, The New Yorker features an excerpt from Dave Eggers’ forthcoming novelization of Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are.

Eggers is also interviewed on the magazine’s books blog, where he discusses, among other things, the imminent movie version of Sendak’s book, which he co-wrote with director Spike Jonze. In case you’ve been under the proverbial rock, here’s the trailer. I don’t know. On the one hand, someone recently wrote that it looks like the first emo movie for kids, and I can’t say that’s a good thing. On the other hand, I think Jonze is pretty brilliant, and I really, really like the non-CGI look of the sets and costumes.

Eggers on why he thinks Jonze will hit it out of the park:

I’ve seen enough [of the final film] over the years to know that Spike absolutely achieved what he set out to do, which was to make an honest and beautiful film about childhood. I always knew he would, because he’s uniquely suited to make a movie about a boy, given he’s still got a lot of boy in him. He skateboards, and I’ve seen him wrestle dogs. The last time I was at his house, he shot me with a BB gun.