David Wong (writer)

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David Wong
Born
Jason Pargin
January 10, 1975 (age 39)
Lawrenceville, Illinois
Occupation
Humorist: multimedia
Language
English
Nationality
American
Education
Graduated in 1997 from Radio-television
Department
[1]

Alma mater
Southern Illinois University
Period
Contemporary
Genre
Satire
Subject
Pop culture, news media,Americana
Notable
works
John Dies at the End

johndiesattheend.com
Jason Pargin (born January 10, 1975), known by his pen name David Wong, is an American
humor writer.
[2]
He is the executive editor of humor website Cracked.com and has written two
novels, John Dies at the End (2007) and This Book Is Full of Spiders (2012). The former was
adapted into a film of the same name in 2012.
Contents
[hide]
1 Early life
2 PWOT and Cracked
3 Adopting the pseudonym David Wong
4 John Dies at the End
o 4.1 Novel
o 4.2 Film
5 Bibliography
6 See also
7 References
8 External links
Early life[edit]
Wong was born in Lawrenceville, Illinois.
[2]
He and fellow Internet writer John Cheese (real
name Mack Leighty) went to high school together and met during an art class they
shared.
[3]
Wong then attended the Southern Illinois University (SIU) radio-television program,
graduating in 1997.
[1]
While at SIU, he was part of a TV show on Alt.news cable
TV called Consumer Advocate. A number of episodes were produced.
[4]

As of 2012, he lives in Marion, Illinois.
[5][6]

PWOT and Cracked[edit]
In 1999 Wong started his own humor site, Pointless Waste of Time (PWOT), which would
eventually be absorbed into Cracked.com.
[7]

While working as a copy editor at a law firm, he would spend his days copy editing insurance
claims and nights posting humor articles on PWOT. Every Halloween on the site he wrote a
new chapter of an online story that he published as a webserial.
[1]
An estimated 70,000 people
read the free online versions before they were removed in September 2008. Wong used the
feedback from people reading each episode of the webserial to tweak what would eventually
become the book,John Dies at the End.
[7]

Demand Media hired Wong to be the head editor for their revamped online magazine,
Cracked.com, although Demand was not aware of Wong's book deal.
[1]
As part of the deal, he
merged PWOT into the Cracked forums. Wong has described a disconnection between the
old Cracked print magazine and the humor site Cracked.com due to multiple relaunches and
almost entirely new staff.
[8]
As a child, he read Cracked magazine's biggest
competitor, Mad magazine.
[8]

In a popular article published at Cracked.com, Wong coined the neologism "monkeysphere"
which introduces the concept of Dunbar's number in a humorous manner.
[9]
Wong referred to
Dunbar's number again in his novel, This Book is Full of Spiders.
Adopting the pseudonym David Wong[edit]
When Pargin started PWOT, he took on the pseudonym of David Wong to keep his real and
online lives separate. Since much of his writing involved situations similar to his real life, he did
not want co-workers and his employers to think that his rants about fictional characters were
inspired by real people. After his book and movie deal, his real name became common
knowledge, but Wong accepted it, saying "It's not like I'm under the Witness Protection
program or anything. I was just trying to keep things simple in my personal life."
[8]

John Dies at the End[edit]
Novel[edit]
Main article: John Dies at the End
John Dies at the End was at first rejected by publishers, and Wong considered taking it down
until Jacob Kier, from indie horror publisher Permuted Press, agreed to publish the novel in
2007.
[10]
A second edition by Thomas Dunne Books was published with additional material as a
hardcover on September 29, 2009.
[11][12]
After enjoying some success, it came to the attention
of Don Coscarelli who decided to adapt it as a film.
[10]

Film[edit]
Main article: John Dies at the End (film)
In 2007, Coscarelli optioned the film rights to John Dies at the End.
[13]
Filming took place from
late 2010 until early 2011 at locations in Southern California. On January 27, 2011 that
principal photography had been completed.
[14]

The film, starring Paul Giamatti, Chase Williamson, and Rob Mayes, premiered at
the Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2012. It also played on March 12, 2012, at South
by Southwest (SXSW), the Austin, Texas film festival.
[15][16][17]

Bibliography[edit]
Wong, David (2010). John Dies at the End. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 9780312659141. Total
pages: 480
Wong, David (2012). This Book Is Full of Spiders: Seriously, Dude, Don't Touch It. St.
Martin's Press. ISBN 9780312546342. Total pages: 384
See also[edit]
Gladstone
Daniel O'Brien
References[edit]
1. ^ Jump up to:
a

b

c

d
Mileur, Eli (February 22, 2012). "SIU grad makes it big with comedy
website". The Daily Egyptian. Retrieved May 22, 2012.
2. ^ Jump up to:
a

b
"Wong, David, 1975 January 10". Library of Congress Authorities.
Retrieved 2014-07-27.
3. Jump up^ Cheese, John (2012). "Is there an origins story to your pseudonym"John
Cheese"?". johncheesecracked.tumblr.com. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
4. Jump up^ Consumer Advocate (1996). "alt.news Consumer Advocate etch (1996
season one)".Alt.news cable TV. Retrieved May 22, 2012.
5. Jump up^ McCormick, Luke (November 30, 2009). "Wong writes way into
Hollywood". The Daily Egyptian. Retrieved May 22, 2012.
6. Jump up^ Testa, Adam (January 16, 2011). "Cracked Up: Local author finds niche in
humor market". The Southern Illinoisan. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
7. ^ Jump up to:
a

b
Lee, Jodi (November 7, 2010; Originally published 2008). "Inter-review
Sunday: David Wong & JDatE". Jodie Lee into the mirror. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
8. ^ Jump up to:
a

b

c
Adhominem (2012). "The many dimensions of David Wong".
Adhominem. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
9. Jump up^ David Wong. "Inside the Monkeysphere". Retrieved 2007-12-25.
10. ^ Jump up to:
a

b
Wong, David (September 25, 2011). "John Dies at the End Teaser
Trailer". Cracked. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
11. Jump up^ Publishers Weekly (July 13, 2009). "Fiction review". Publishers Weekly.
Retrieved May 12, 2012.
12. Jump up^ Wong, David (September 29, 2009). "September 29, 2009".
johndiesattheend.com. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
13. Jump up^ Quint (October 21, 2010). "Quint knows what Don Coscarelli's new movie is!
And more importantly he knows Paul Giamatti and The Kurgan are in it!". Ain't It Cool
News. Retrieved January 12, 2011.
14. Jump up^ "John Dies at the End" just starting post and VFX". Don Coscarelli. Twitter.
January 27, 2011. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
15. Jump up^ Labrecque, Jeff (January 24, 2012). "Sundance: 'Bubba Ho-Tep' director back
with a vengeance VIDEO". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
16. Jump up^ Sundance Film Festival (December 19, 2011)."Four Additional Films Selected
for 2012 Sundance Film Festival". Sundance Film Festival. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
17. Jump up^ South by Southwest (2012). "John Dies At The End". South by Southwest.
Retrieved May 12, 2012.
External links[edit]
Official website
Footage of Wong at the film premiere
David Wong at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
David Wong at Library of Congress Authorities, with 2 catalog records
Authority control
WorldCat
VIAF: 88378977
LCCN: n2009026991

Categories:
1975 births
American humorists
American columnists
Web humor
21st-century American novelists
American male novelists
Writers from Illinois
Pseudonymous writers
Living people