Brain Snacks: Tasty Tidbits of Knowledge
The "M.T." in M.T. Anderson stands for "Matthew Tobin." He usually goes by "Tobin." Sounds like the kind of guy who would wear a tweed jacket and a bow tie, doesn't it? (source)
Anderson got Titus's line about how much Mars sucks from a real-life experience. A teacher friend of his told him about a kid in her class who had recently gone to England, and came back to report: "Yeah, I went to England. It was stupid." Anderson was all, "It's a whole country!" voicing Violet's reaction to Titus. (Source)
To get into the teen groove for Feed, Anderson "read a huge number of back issues of magazines like Seventeen, Maxim, and Self." He also listened to the cell phone conversations of tons of unwitting people out in public. (Source)
Aside from being an award-winning author, Mr. Anderson has worked as a disc jockey, a burger-flipper, and a cashier at a department store. He's found inspiration for his writing in some of these jobs. For example, his book Burger Wussis an epic of fast-food revenge. (source)
Quite the Renaissance Man, Anderson also works as a classical music critic. We're definitely getting Professor Durn vibes. (source)