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

1.0

I liked Zeitoun and A Hologram for the King, so Megan suggested this book. Sadly, I only got about 1/3 the way in, at which point I hated Eggers so much I absolutely refused to read another word of this navel-gazing exercise in self-pity. Despite never actually having a television, my family had a sort of standing joke. Anytime somebody would mention that some family on TV was totally unrealistic, we'd all laugh and say, "Well who would want to watch a normal family?" Well, Eggers has written the story of a totally normal family going about totally normal life. His journalistic style, which served so well in Zeitoun doesn't help here. "First we moved here. Then we moved there. This house was like this. That house was like that. We weren't like a normal family. All the other Mom's at soccer practice couldn't relate to me. First my sister lived with us, but then she didn't." On and on and on and on.