A review by libellum_aphrodite
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers

3.0

In the "Rules and Suggestions for Enjoyment of this Book," Eggers says "5. Matter of fact, the first three or four chapters are all some of you might want to bother with. That gets you to page 109 or so, which is a nice length, a nice novella sort of length. Those first four chapters stick to a one general subject, something manageable, which is more than what can be said for the book thereafter." This was a fairly accurate statement. Those first four chapters, covering the deaths of his parents, particularly his mother, are very tight, well-executed, and moving; the rest of the book goes in fits and bursts of interestingness and quality. There are a few character traits of his various family members introduced in that latter section that do really heighten the initial story, and I'm glad I read on to learn them: [spoilers!] Eggers' father's drinking and eruptive anger; his mother's means of coping with that situation; the difference in the two's parenting styles and relationship with their kids; how those styles influence Eggers raising Toph. Other than these points, the exploits of Might magazine were not very compelling and the friend group around the magazine was minimally developed.

Stylistically, the stream of conscious narrative was quite captivating. I particularly enjoyed the device where Toph or other friends seamlessly start speaking Eggers' inner dialog aloud to him. This is superbly executed so that the shift occurs with the reader hardly realizing it, but without being confusing.