Reviews - A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

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A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

A friend gave me a well-worn copy of this book after my dad died. I was in so much grief I honestly don't remember much detail about it, but I know that I finished it, and that somehow it both kept me from thinking about my dad too much while also helping me work through his death. So although I could not tell you the plot of this book to save my life, I remember putting it down and thinking, "I'm sorry this is over, that was a great book."

gdairaghi's review against another edition

4.5

I found the meta elements very clever. That feeling of being young and needing to change the world, to be known. A touch longer than it needed to be.

danikass's review against another edition

2.0

Yikes, just yikes. I think we need to stop letting mediocre, literary white boys write self-aggrandizing memoirs. I just have a hard time looking past someone threatening to call immigration on teenagers without any sense of remorse, or who, as an adult, romanticizes staring down the shirts of teenage girls, or who, entirely unprompted, calls the "existence of fat kids" "disgusting." The r word is used quite a lot, and there's a fixation on race that's extremely yikesworthy.

Maybe I could look past all that, say this was twenty years ago and the world didn't know better, maybe, but then the book itself is just bad. It's all so self indulgent, self reflective only when convenient, and yeah, I guess it's funny, but I need more than that. The constant ego mixed with Eggers' uselessness/mediocrity just made it unbearable.

But it was an easy read? And the writing was good, even if what he had to say was boring.

ajosaunders's review against another edition

2.0

I really tried with this one but I could not deal with the stream of consciousness. I've read some books like it so I thought I could get past it but at this time I just couldn't get into it. I pushed through for a long time but finally did not finish.

brittskinner7's review against another edition

3.75

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad fast-paced

anonymousity's review against another edition

4.0

Eggers' parents both died of cancer, 32 days apart, when he was in his early 20s, and his brother was 7. He became his brother's legal guardian and the book is the memoir of his coping and parenting. This premise itself is heartbreaking and shocking, and while the work wasn't quite staggering, it was very readable, and, in some parts, even relatable. Due to its stream of consciousness style this was a much quicker and easier read than I expected - at some times I was reluctant to put it down, and I usually was quite eager to pick it up, whereas usually books don't grab my attention in that way.

I think Eggers' grief, denial, support system, and coping mechanisms were interesting. He hardly mentions therapy, and so I wonder if this played any role, or continues to.

I would have liked to read a version from Toph's and Beth's point of views.

Edit: I just went back and read some others' reviews to refresh my memory on this and get some different perspectives. It's true his overload of information and stories about his magazine was too much, and dull. And he is full of himself. But I'll leave it at 4 stars because it was still a pretty readable read. That sounds mediocre, but it kept my attention more than other books do. Maybe I kept hoping to get more from Toph, from Beth, but it was only his view, all the time. Still, I was pretty interested in the Dave-Toph relationship development (or lack thereof - but the substance and brotherly love).

aapje's review against another edition

4.0

Wow, this is the first book I'm giving 4 stars, despite my struggling at some point. Around page 180 I thought: "Why am I still reading this???". I felt frustrated and wanted to give up. I didn't see where the story was going. But I managed to keep on reading, then somehow really got into the story, started appreciating it and finished the book within a couple of days. A strange and unique experience.