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Jason Pargin (born January 10, 1975), known by his former pen name David Wong, is an American humor writer. He is the former executive editor of humor website Cracked.com, a recurring guest in the Cracked Podcast, and has written six novels: '' John Dies at the End'' (2007), '' This Book Is Full of Spiders'' (2012), '' Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits'' (2015), ''
What the Hell Did I Just Read ''What the Hell Did I Just Read: A Novel of Cosmic Horror'' is a 2017 comic horror novel written by Jason Pargin under the pseudonym of David Wong. It is the third book in the series after '' John Dies at the End'' and '' This Book Is Full of Spi ...
'' (2017), ''Zoey Punches the Future in the Dick'' (2020) and ''If This Book Exists, You're in the Wrong Universe'' (2022). ''John Dies at the End'' was adapted into a film of the same name in 2012.


Early life

Pargin was born in
Lawrenceville, Illinois Lawrenceville is a city in and the county seat of Lawrence County, Illinois, Lawrence County, Illinois, United States, located along the Embarras River (Illinois), Embarras River. The population was 4,348 at the 2010 census. Lawrenceville is locat ...
. He and fellow Internet writer John Cheese (real name Mack Leighty) attended high school together and met during an art class they shared. Pargin then attended the
Southern Illinois University Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois. Board of trustees The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of Tr ...
(SIU) radio-television program, graduating in 1997. While at SIU, he was part of a TV show on Alt.news cable TV called ''Consumer Advocate''. A number of episodes were produced. He lived in
Marion, Illinois Marion is a city in Williamson and Johnson Counties, Illinois, United States, and is the county seat of Williamson County. The population was 16,855 at the 2020 census. It is part of a dispersed urban area that developed out of the early 20th ...
until 2014, when he moved to Nashville.


PWOT and Cracked

In 1999, Pargin started his own humor site, ''Pointless Waste of Time'' (PWOT), which would eventually be absorbed into Cracked.com. 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 Web fiction is written works of literature available primarily or solely on the Internet. A common type of web fiction is the web serial. The term comes from old serial stories that were once published regularly in newspapers and magazines. Unlike ...
. An estimated 70,000 people read the free online versions before they were removed in September 2008. Pargin used the feedback from people reading each episode of the webserial to tweak what would eventually become the book, '' John Dies at the End''.
Demand Media Leaf Group, formerly Demand Media Inc, is an American content company that operates online brands including eHow, livestrong.com, and marketplace brands Saatchi Art and Society6. The company also provides social media platforms to existing l ...
hired Pargin to be the head editor for their revamped online magazine, Cracked.com, although Demand was not aware of Pargin's book deal. As part of the deal, he merged PWOT into the Cracked forums. Pargin has described a disconnection between the old ''
Cracked Cracked may refer to: Television * ''Cracked'' (British TV series), a 2008 British comedy-drama television series that aired on STV * ''Cracked'' (Canadian TV series), a 2013 Canadian crime drama series that aired on CBC * "Cracked", a Season 8 ( ...
'' print magazine and the humor site Cracked.com due to multiple relaunches and almost entirely new staff. As a child, he read ''Cracked'' magazine's biggest competitor, ''Mad'' magazine. In a popular article published at Cracked.com, Pargin coined the neologism "monkeysphere" which introduces the concept of
Dunbar's number Dunbar's number is a suggested cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships—relationships in which an individual knows who each person is and how each person relates to every other person. This ...
in a humorous manner. Pargin referred to Dunbar's number again in his novel, ''This Book Is Full of Spiders''. 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. The origin of the name was a character from one of his first short stories. He writes: After his book and movie deal, his real name became common knowledge, but Pargin 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." In late 2020, Pargin announced that he was retiring the "David Wong" pseudonym, with future editions of his works being published under his real name instead.


Published works

His first novel '' John Dies at the End'' was at first rejected by publishers, and Pargin considered taking it down until indie horror publisher Permuted Press agreed to publish the novel in 2007. A second edition by
Thomas Dunne Books Thomas Dunne Books was an imprint of St. Martin's Press, which is a division of Macmillan Publishers. From 1986 until April 2020, it published popular trade fiction and nonfiction. History The imprint signed David Irving, a scholar, for a Joseph ...
was published with additional material as a hardcover on September 29, 2009. After enjoying some success, it came to the attention of
Don Coscarelli Don Coscarelli Jr. (born February 17, 1954) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Born to Italian settlers in Libya, he is best known for his work in horror films. His directing credits include the first four films in the ' ...
, who decided to adapt it as a film. In 2007, Coscarelli optioned the film rights to ''John Dies at the End''. Filming took place from late 2010 until January 2011 at locations in
Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...
. The film, starring
Chase Williamson Chase Williamson (born July 7, 1988) is an American actor and film producer. He is best known for portraying David Wong in '' John Dies at the End'' (2012). Early life Williamson was born in Coral Springs, Florida, in 1988. When he was young, ...
,
Rob Mayes Rob Mayes is an American actor, musician, and model. He is best known for starring as the title character in the 2012 horror comedy film ''John Dies at the End'', as well as portraying Tommy Nutter in the short-lived comedy-drama television seri ...
,
Clancy Brown Clarence John "Clancy" Brown III (born January 5, 1959) is an American actor. Prolific in film and television since the 1980s, Brown is often cast in villainous and authoritative roles. Brown's film roles include Viking Lofgren in ''Bad Boys'' ...
, and
Paul Giamatti Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti (; born June 6, 1967) is an American actor and film producer. He first garnered attention for his breakout role in '' Private Parts'' as Kenny "Pig Vomit" Rushton, leading to supporting roles in ''Saving Private R ...
, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2012. It also played on March 12, 2012, at South by Southwest, in
Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
. The author stated in January 2018 that ''Zoey Punches the Future in the Dick'', the sequel to ''Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits'', was nearing completion and scheduled for release in late 2020. The fourth book in the ''John Dies at the End'' series, ''If This Book Exists, You're in the Wrong Universe'' was released in October 2022.


Bibliography


''John and Dave'' series

* * * *


Zoey Ashe series

* *


See also

* Daniel O'Brien *
Michael Swaim Michael Swaim (born June 7, 1985) is an American filmmaker, writer, actor, comedian, and podcaster. While attending the University of California, San Diego, he became a columnist for the humor website Cracked.com, and after graduating from colle ...
*
Seanbaby Sean Patrick Reiley (born June 15, 1976), better known as Seanbaby, is an American writer and video-game designer best known for his comedy website and frequent contributions to video game media outlets ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' and 1UP.com, ...


References


External links

* *
David Wong at film premiere
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pargin, Jason 1975 births American humorists American columnists Internet humor 21st-century American novelists American male novelists Novelists from Illinois Living people American comedy writers Southern Illinois University alumni People from Lawrenceville, Illinois People from Marion, Illinois Journalists from Illinois 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers