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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
I have a lot of complicated feelings towards this book. I found the first 100 pages to be raw, honest, and weirdly beautiful. After that, there were hundreds of pages about the Might Magazine and Eggers’ friends, which felt aimless and sometimes even dull. I did like some chapters in those pages, mostly stuff about the parents and Toph, but those were few and far between. Instead, there were far more scenes that sexualized women. I understand that the book is meant to somewhat be self-reflective but the objectification of women was painful to read. It does get better towards the end, though. I did love the fourth wall breaks and the many scenes in which Eggers called himself out. I would like this book a lot more if about 200 pages were cut from the middle.
It took me a while to realize this was a memoir or creative non-fiction, and not fiction. It was highly entertaining, funny, tragic, and a little ADD. There is not much of a plot, but is just a story of Dave Eggers after his parents pass away. He balances all the moments that would be more heart-wrenching with comedy. For the most part the book is largely funny. The ending starts to become intense and you start to feel his suffering a bit more. He likes to rant a lot about his thoughts and worries, which to me seem more honest and realistic as they are usually inane, stupid, overly dramatic, or sexual. I can see reading this book can at times seems boring or pointless, but I listened to the audiobook narrated by Dion Graham, and it was absolutely amazing. He made everything seem so real. His voice acting was great, he made the rants more funny, and he really expressed emotion that Dave Eggers may have be trying to portray.
This was fantastic! Although, I won't lie, I skipped over some of the longer ramblings. Sorry, Eggers.
One of my very favorite books of all time. Inspired me to begin writing creative non-fiction.
For extra heartbreak, the book's so long it took me what felt like a month to get through it. Specifically, it was often rambling and self-indulgent, even in places where it didn't need to be. There were flashes of genius now and then, but in between the flashes of genius were long sections of non-genius. So, in conclusion, it was intermittently brilliant.
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Really enjoyed this book, if for nothing more than the crackling prose. I found Eggers' writing to be bordering on hipsterish style - if that makes any sense - in that it seemed to try and be too clever, but at the very least I appreciated the effort and enjoyed the story thoroughly.
Also, the staggering gall of Eggers (or his publishers at least) in naming this book gave it many points in my, uh, book. Definitely worth reading.
Also, the staggering gall of Eggers (or his publishers at least) in naming this book gave it many points in my, uh, book. Definitely worth reading.