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Liked It1 of 1 members found this review helpful “I went out to San Francisco to live with some friends for a few months between the ages of 19-20; I was lucky. I read AHWOSG (sounds like a Harry Potter-ism, eh'?) my first week out in the city. It's everything the critics claim it to be on the inside cover and it is more than that if it gets...” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“Dave Eggers is a terrifically talented writer; don't hold his cleverness against him. What to make of a book called A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius: Based on a True Story? For starters, there's a good bit of staggering genius before you even get to the true story, including a preface, a list of "Rules and Suggestions for Enjoyment of This Book," and a 20-page acknowledgements section complete with special mail-in offer, flow chart of the book's themes, and a lovely pen-and-ink drawing of a stapler (helpfully labeled "Here is a drawing of a stapler:").
North Shore Country Day School English-10 wrote this review yesterday. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
But on to the true story. At the age of 22, Eggers became both an orphan and a "single mother" when his parents died within five months of one another of unrelated cancers. In the ensuing sibling division of labor, Dave is appointed unofficial guardian of his 8-year-old brother, Christopher. The two live together in semi-squalor, decaying food and sports equipment scattered about, while Eggers worries obsessively about child-welfare authorities, molesting babysitters, and his own health. His child-rearing strategy swings between making his brother's upbringing manically fun and performing bizarre developmental experiments on him. (Case in point: his idea of suitable bedtime reading is John Hersey's Hiroshima.)
The book is also, perhaps less successfully, about being young and hip and out to conquer the world (in an ironic, media-savvy, Gen-X way, naturally). In the early '90s, Eggers was one of the founders of the very funny Might Magazine, and he spends a fair amount of time here on Might, the hipster culture of San Francisco's South Park, and his own efforts to get on to MTV's Real World. This sort of thing doesn't age very well--but then, Eggers knows that. There's no criticism you can come up with that he hasn't put into A.H.W.O.S.G. already. "The book thereafter is kind of uneven," he tells us regarding the contents after page 109, and while that's true, it's still uneven in a way that is funny and heartfelt and interesting.
All this self-consciousness could have become unbearably arch. It's a testament to Eggers's skill as a writer--and to the heartbreaking particulars of his story--that it doesn't. Currently the editor of the footnote-and-marginalia-intensive journal McSweeney's (the last issue featured an entire story by David Foster Wallace printed tinily on its spine), Eggers comes from the most media-saturated generation in history--so much so that he can't feel an emotion without the sense that it's already been felt for him. What may seem like postmodern noodling is really just Eggers writing about pain in the only honest way available to him. Oddly enough, the effect is one of complete sincerity, and--especially in its concluding pages--this memoir as metafiction is affecting beyond all rational explanation. --Mary Park”
“I loved some parts, and found myself skimming through some of the long "stream of consciousness" parts.”
Leah K wrote this review 3 days ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I don't know if there could be a memoir that ISN'T self-indulgent, but I would offer Mr. Eggers a crown for indulgence and I would gladly walk again through this museum of pain that he has opened with this book. Nothing much to root for in this book other than his little brother who would do very well to write a memoir of HIS experience through these years, but the sharp and clever prose made this book hard for me to set down. I would also credit it for inspiring my own writing. ”
Mr. Chaffee wrote this review 3 days ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Never read anything like this. This author is brilliant. But this book is not for everybody.”
Maxine S wrote this review 12 days ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Eggers' memoir is a story that is simultaneously heartbreaking, funny, and incredibly smart. (hence the title) It's a coming of age story that's completely unpredictable. ”
Michelle C wrote this review 13 days ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I didn't finish this book. I really didn't think it was that great, and im not sure what all the fuss was about”
Shelby P wrote this review 2 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“This is one of my favorites. I did not want it to end.”
Donna S wrote this review 2 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Sometimes well written but pedantic. Too long.”
Amy G wrote this review 4 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“I just couldn't get into this. I don't know why.”
Courtney L wrote this review 4 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
