Dave Eggers' "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius": A Masterpiece of Modern Literature

Aimee Musto: What a lovely book. It’s so great:)

Canada on Jan 15, 2021

Abdul Jalal: I read this book an year ago. It still hymns in my mind. The way the author has written this memoir is so impressive and touching. It is a must read book and It is worth it. I loved it thoroughly
thanks.

India on Aug 21, 2016

Andy: It came a bit late, but still well done, it did do a long way from Missouri to Berlin (Germany) and snail mail isn't what it used to be and security and all that s**t between the together growing globe. Book's in good condition just as advertised

Germany on Apr 01, 2016

R. DelParto: Dave Eggers has written a personal account of his life with utmost satire and tongue-in-cheek humor. Best-selling novel and nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for non-ficiton since its publication in 1999 A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius: A Memoir Based on a True Story continues to draw readers to Eggers experience as a young adult in the early to mid 1990s and the most pivotal moments that included the most life changing -- the deaths of his parents from cancer in 1992. The book is a unique retelling of his personal journey that was not at all straight and narrow because of Eggers’ creative style of writing that may be compared to writers such as David Sedaris and Sarah Vowell that offer more than a narrative but one of much intellectual vividness.

Upon reading the early pages of the book of the Preface and introduction, readers will have to adjust their lens of understanding to what they are familiar with in terms of reading a memoir. Eggers writes in a stream of conscious type of style that jumps from one thought to the next, but if one keeps a steady focus, all of the details that he provides relate to his circumstance. And he attempts to explain the direction...

United States on Mar 12, 2016

Bryn Griffith: The idea of someone who is completely unknown (at the time it was written) thinking his story is worthy of being heard strikes me as somewhat egotistical and presumptous. So this is why I was expecting to not like this book; i.e. I wasn't expecting to like the author as a person.
The first 50 odd pages cover the decline and deaths of his parents, which I found rather dry, but it is really just setting the scene for what is to come. These deaths leave the author with the financial wherewithal to be independant at the age of 22. His 'problem' however is that he is also left largely responsible for his 7 year old younger brother. The tension between wanting to lead a 'normal' youthful existence and the overriding concerns for welfare of his brother (to whom he is clearly devoted) is central and touchingly portrayed. But, the reason I have given this book the full 5* is because it is one of only a handful of books that have ever made me literally laugh out loud. This was when he describes a nude photo shoot on a beach.
There is both anger and energy coming off the pages of this book, and whilst I can see at times it may come across as self-consciously pretentious in places, it...

United Kingdom on Feb 03, 2013

BM: Maybe a different title would've helped me enjoy this book more. When you read something called "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius", the bar is immediately set pretty high. Its a decent book. Readable. I could easily put it down- in fact it took me about six months to finish, when much longer books rarely take me more than two weeks. But, I took the time to finish, whereas a truely bad book I would've just abandoned. Its amusing at times. I never found it moving or emotional in any way, although he graphically describes having two parents die back-to-back, one of a slow and painful disease, and one quickly and suddenly. I guess I never felt any emotional attachment to the characters, any of them. Eggers doesn't take the time to develop characters for you to care about. He is the main character, and the book is about him. The supporting cast, even the little brother he raises that is with him through the entire book, do not matter that much. And he is not that likeable of a character. So, to the reviews I read that "this is the voice of the MTV generation"- no, not really. I am part of the MTV generation, and found every character in this book completely unrelatable. Some...

United States on Mar 28, 2011

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Japan on Dec 20, 2007

RG: Someone suggested this book to me with the line, "this is so you. You're going to love it." They were right, at least about the loving part. I don't necessarily know whether I write or think or act like Eggers. If I do, then I consider it a compliment.

This instantaneously became one of my favorite books of all-time. Even through the first few pages I was totally hooked to the way Eggers stayed so colloquial with his reader. I can appreciate that, especially as someone who works in the law where a lot of really simple communication has to be terse and formal. Sometimes the warmest, most welcoming type of conversation is the one that's long and nuanced and complicated even when the ideas behind the words might seemingly be simple.

To me, a good book is one that makes me think rather than just follow a plot line and a story. A great book is one that makes me write in the margins, adding my own thoughts to the passages. I transformed whole pages of this book into a notepad. While narrating a really interesting story in its own right, what made the book spectacular was Eggers's musings on the things that were happening around him. Too many writers merely describe what...

United States on May 24, 2007