Dave Eggers is one of the best authors of our time, and I believe his work has potential to enter the canon of literature that will be read for many generations. It is poignant, funny and extremely well-written. His word choice is fascinating.

This is an excellent collection of short stories. Compare lethal injection with stoning. Imagine a love relationship. The relationship makes everything brighter, more clear. It confers a sort of emancipation.

In one of the stories Rita is in Tanzania with a large purple backpack. She was supposed to travel with her sister Gwen, but Gwen became pregnant. Rita feels that she has always been tormented by Gwen's thoughtfulness. She is one of five paying hikers in the climbing party among numerous porters. She climbs to the top and descends successfully.

Dave Eggers has a way of capturing the most simplistically beautiful moments of human existence and conveying them masterfully and subtly through his writing, so that when you read his work you feel elated and inspired without knowing exactly why, much as when these simple, beautiful moments occur in life. When we get caught up in a moment of emotion, when we lose control and overcome our social inhibitions and truly experience the beauty of life - these moments, these feelings are at the core of Eggers's work. The stories in this book capture different moments such as these, and while if read one at a time and apart from each other they convey somewhat anecdotal experiences, together they form a beautiful painting of life in all its purest moments. After closing this book, I felt as if I gained something. On the downside, however, a few of the stories really aren't worth much on their own, particularly the first in the collection, "Another," which may turn new readers away. I'm not sure if I would be as dissatisfied with it if it appeared later in the collection, however, because after reading a number of these stories you begin to gain a feeling for the picture each collectively convey, whether they work alone or not. On the other hand, some of the stories do work apart from the others, particularly "Up the Mountain Coming Down Slowly," "Climbing to the Window, Pretending to Dance" and "Quiet." In other words, I can appreciate the aforementioned stories as works in and of themselves, while others, "Another" and "What It Means..." for example, I can only truly appreciate as less significant parts of the collection as an entirety, ones that I am glad are there but would not particularly miss if they were left out. Taken together, the stories have a definite flow to them, and reading this book is truly a worthwhile experience - though some parts seem insignificant or anecdotal at first, together they form something very human and subtly beautiful.

I have been reading a lot of what I think is undue criticism about Dave Eggers How We Are Hungry. Though I can agree with many points, the fact still remains that Eggers is an exciting and wildly talented writer. The stories "Up the Mountain Coming Down Slowly" and "After I was Thrown in the River but Before I Drowned" are both masterful and prove that Eggers can turn just about anything into an engaging, funny, and (often) heartbreaking narrative. However, the overall quality of this book is ultimately detracted by some of the weaker stories ("The Only Meaning of the Oil-Wet Water," "Quiet," and several of the shorter ones), yet this is not to suggest that this book isn't worth reading, or rewarding. It is. Yet, not unlike AHWOSG, this collection struggles through large sections that feel half-baked, and could do well to be edited out ("Real World" self interview, anyone?) Recommended.

Dave eggers is easily one of the most approachable authors alive today. Filled with wit and humor, it is likely any infrequent reader would fall in love with him. However, underneath this vail of seducing the illiterate, is an author who crafts stories so original and beautiful and full of meaning, that I'm convinced everyone would love his work, and this book specifically. That said, "After I Was Thrown in the River and Before I Drowned" is, to me, one of the best short stories I have ever come across. It has everyhting a good story needs, and though maybe not ALL the stories in here are for everyone, surely people will find a story they love and identify so strongly with, as I have.