  neal pollack (born march 1, 1970) is an american satirist, novelist, short story writer, and journalist. he lives in austin, texas. pollack has written eight books: the neal pollack anthology of american literature, never mind the pollacks, beneath the axis of evil, alternadad, stretch, jewball, downward-facing death, and open your heart. he is also a three-time jeopardy! champion. ==career== pollack's eccentric literary career has seen many highs and lows since he burst into literary fame with the publication of his first book in 2000, a journey that was chronicled in a far-reaching confessional interview  with the onion newspaper in may 2013. after graduating from northwestern university's medill school of journalism, pollack worked as a staff reporter for the chicago reader from 1993 to 2000, covering chicago city politics and writing profiles of urban eccentrics. meanwhile, he performed with various improv comedy troupes around chicago, including improvolympic (where he studied with del close) and the free associates. after dave eggers's magazine mcsweeney's began publishing his work, pollack began appearing in shows with eggers, john hodgman, sarah vowell, zadie smith, david byrne, arthur bradford, they might be giants, m. doughty, and many others before parting ways with mcsweeney's in 2003. pollack wrote a political satire column for vanity fair, and the "bad sex with neal pollack" column for nerve.com. his freelance journalism appears in wired, slate.com, salon.com, men's journal, gq, and many other publications. one of his slate.com articles was featured in the best american sportswriting collection of 2006. his satirical online take down  of james frey was named one of the "top 26 cultural moments of the decade" by slate cultural critic troy patterson. in 2007, along with ben brown and matthew tobey, pollack started offsprung.com, a
1970_births 21st-century_American_novelists American_crime_fiction_writers American_humorists American_male_novelists American_memoirists American_satirists Chicago_Reader_people LearnedLeague_players Living_people McSweeney\'s Medill_School_of_Journalism_alumni Writers_from_California Writers_from_Chicago,_Illinois