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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
If you can get past the title, this really is a heartbreaking work (although possibly not of staggering genius). Seriously, I laughed aloud, I cried. Plus, part of it is set in the Bay Area so there are lots of "oh, I know that neighborhood-type moments" to enjoy if you live here (or used to). Remember, it's a true story and an excellent read. Eggers is a remarkable storyteller.
Okay, so I gave up on this one, but not because it wasn't great. It's just that too much time elapsed between my sessions with it...that said, I would still recommend it.
dark
emotional
funny
fast-paced
Prior to reading this book, all I knew about it was it's title sounds arrogant and that it's gotten mixed reviews from those I know. Needless to say, my expecations were low... which may be why I enjoyed it so much! This guy thinks, or at least writes, exactly the way I do. Before getting to read through the book, there's a not-too-brief preface warning you against reading the book and why you won't like it, with diagrams to accompany it. He's just the very definition of self-deprecation and yet it isn't uncomfortable to my taste, just funny. In fact, there was more than one occasion where I quite literally laughed out loud while sitting alone. That doesn't happen too often while reading in my experience.
My advice to you? Expect little and you'll be pleasantly surprised. Worked for me :).
My advice to you? Expect little and you'll be pleasantly surprised. Worked for me :).
challenging
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
I only read half this book before I was put off by the author's narcissism. Supposedly this is a memoir about a family's coping with the death of both parents, but the author's relatives didn't come through as defined characters. This book is mainly, "Blah, blah, blah, this is what *I* was feeling..."
I feel kind of bad marking this books as Read because I have 80 pages left and can't bring myself to care enough about them to sit down and read them. UGH. I really wanted to like this book but every time I picked it up it grated on my nerves.
I'm a big fan of Dave Eggers. What is the What is a masterpiece. The Circle was weirdly fascinating and so different. Actually, that's all I've read. Until now.
I've been meaning to get around to Egger's memoir, "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" for years, ever since my brilliant wife tore through it during a lake house vacation week. She loved it. Me, not so much.
Eggers uses his own voice to explain how he parents died in rapid succession, how he wasn't ready for responsibility, and how he and his sister did a pretty crappy job raising his younger brother who was like 11 at the time. I've heard some people say that this Eggers book is written in the style of David Foster Wallace, whose supposedly brilliant magnum opus not one can actually finish (well, me, anyway). There's something to that. Like Wallace, sparse and spare are not words he seems familiar with. This strikes me as stream of consciousness, something I'm guilty of myself. But, it feels like a forced stream. It's a tiny bit too precious, like he's worked to hard to resist editing and shaping his truth into something of real coherence.
Truman Capote said of Kerouac's On The Road, "That's not writing. That's typing." I think the same applies here.
I've been meaning to get around to Egger's memoir, "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" for years, ever since my brilliant wife tore through it during a lake house vacation week. She loved it. Me, not so much.
Eggers uses his own voice to explain how he parents died in rapid succession, how he wasn't ready for responsibility, and how he and his sister did a pretty crappy job raising his younger brother who was like 11 at the time. I've heard some people say that this Eggers book is written in the style of David Foster Wallace, whose supposedly brilliant magnum opus not one can actually finish (well, me, anyway). There's something to that. Like Wallace, sparse and spare are not words he seems familiar with. This strikes me as stream of consciousness, something I'm guilty of myself. But, it feels like a forced stream. It's a tiny bit too precious, like he's worked to hard to resist editing and shaping his truth into something of real coherence.
Truman Capote said of Kerouac's On The Road, "That's not writing. That's typing." I think the same applies here.
I remember reading that Chuck Klosterman said that this was just a groundbreaking book for memoirs. It changed the genre completely (especially since he had the 50 page introduction).
Some parts do drag, but Eggers is a good person to come to know as a writer in the 21st century. He tells a good story and it's definitely an inspiring one.
Some parts do drag, but Eggers is a good person to come to know as a writer in the 21st century. He tells a good story and it's definitely an inspiring one.