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Dave Eggers is a celebrity. After shooting to fame with “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius,” the author has successfully employed both his quirky, instantly recognizable literary persona and his easygoing, normal-guy charm to become the rock star of the book world.

But if there’s one thing to know about Dave Eggers, it’s that he uses his powers of fame for good. This was proven Saturday at Royce Hall, where Eggers brought together authors, comedians and musicians for “Revenge of the Book Eaters,” an evening of arts enjoyment intended to benefit his own 826LA project, a non-profit organization that helps kids become better writers.

Not only is Eggers a celebrity, he also has a good deal of indie cred. Folk-pop outfit The Mountain Goats started off the musical portion of the evening with mellow meditations on love and being a good houseguest. Later, Rilo Kiley frontwoman Jenny Lewis took the stage with just a guitar, played some haunting selections from her recent solo album, and held the audience captive with her evocative, earnest and spectacularly pretty vocal delivery. The inclusion of acts such as these, raved over in the non-mainstream media and their acceptance by the crowd at Royce, further established Eggers as someone who is In Touch With The Young People.

After an intermission and a reading by author Sarah Vowell and Andy Richter, Jon Krasinski of NBC’s “The Office” read a story written by a student from one of the 826 centers. The story, about a cheetah who smells like a mud-filled pickle but is trying to woo his true love nonetheless, elicited huge laughs from the audience, as did Krasinki’s recitation; he appeared to be reading the story for the first time and couldn’t contain his glee.

Perhaps the only problem with “Revenge of the Book Eaters” was that its creator was somewhat scarce as a stage presence. Eggers took the mic to talk about 826LA and to introduce a video about the 826 organizations. It’s great to know that he is keeping the focus where it should be – the kids, yo – but the evening seemed incomplete without some of his idiosyncratic, highly read-out-loud-able prose. However, there was a chance for fans to get close: During a portion of the show in which buckets were passed around for donations to 826LA, Eggers himself carried one around and offered to hug anyone who gave $20 or more. He did a lot of hugging that night.

– Nick Rudman