Rating: 
Summary: Very disappointed.
Review: I bought this book because I read all the glowing reviews it got. Dave Eggers is definitely a witty writer but this memoir is just a jumble of different ideas that never lend themselves to a common theme. The sad part is that this book had so much potential to be great. If Eggers had concentrated his writing on the dynamic between himself and his 10-year-old brother (who Eggers became guardian of when he was 22 years old after the death of both parents) the book would have been great. I found that aspect of the story most compelling. Instead you get stream of conscious prose detailing uninteresting events (even for a 20 something). I found it to be a waste of material.
Rating: 
Summary: Better Than I Expected
Review: Judging from the reviews on this site, I expected a terrible book. But I was pleasantly surprised by A.H.W.O.S.G. I agree that the best parts involve the brotherly relationship between Dave and Toph and that sometimes the author goes off on tangents. However I couldn't help but notice that even these tangents were well written and interesting. Basically, I enjoyed the author's style which is extremely fluid and clear and unforced. Eggers is the best stylist I read in a while. The MTV stuff was a bit much, true, but show me any novel and I'll show you the crappy parts. And no book is perfect. There was enough emotion shining through the irony for this book to work for me. And Eggers doesn't labor at his humor as Burroughs does in Running With Scissors. It's a matter of taste ultimately, and I'm very happy that I read A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. In fact, I haven't read a book I connected SO strongly to in a very long time. I also thank the guy who mentioned The Losers Club by Richard Perez -- another book I enjoyed.
Rating: 
Summary: More stars less stars
Review: This is a pretty interesting device.
It is.
Would you prefer Joyce? Or maybe the Sound and the Fury? Break a watch to take it to the repair shop. Perhaps this is an example -- what is an example? -- of a sort of postmodern flow of -- what is consciousness? Is this it?
I wonder how many wonder like this?
This book is an interesting device. $100,000?
Wow. We can all do that but don't. Congrats!
Did it have to be so big? I would have prefered less use of certain words I was taught never to use. But then I am not the one on display here.
Rating: 
Summary: As Advertised
Review: Whatever anyone says about this book is bound to be true -- it is at once touching, self-absorbed, engrossing, shallow, warm, mean, original, derivative, well-written, dischordant. You name the adjective, it probably fits. I enjoyed AHWOSG for its core story -- that of the dying parents and the author's coming of age as not only a person, but also as both a sibling and a guardian of his seven-year-old brother. That story takes up the better part of the first half of the book and the last 50 or so pages. In fact, the final pages contain passages that I consider some of the finest I've read in a long time. Here, Eggers' boils with the pain of his mother's death and the responsibility of raising his brother and his writing in this part of the book is his most passionate and introspective. The rest of the book is at its worst entertaining, and at its best not particularly enthralling. Anyone who's gone through their twenties probably has as interesting of stories to tell, we just don't necessarily care to hear them. Go ahead and take the time to read AHWOSG. I can't guarantee you'll enjoy it like I did, but I do defy you to use the two descriptors which don't apply to this memoir -- boring or conventional.
Rating:
Summary: Buy a stapler instead
Review: There's a trick with a stapler in this book's illustrations, and it pretty much sums up Eggers's writing strategy. That is: he shows you a drawing of a stapler, then admits it's a shameless grab for attention (look! he can draw a stapler!). If you fall for it, you're impressed by how honest he is about trying to distract you with a drawing of a stapler. If you don't fall for it, you realize that it doesn't matter whether Eggers admits the stapler is a ploy: it's still just a dumb drawing of a stapler. This book is the stapler; I didn't fall for it.
Rating: 
Summary: Avoid it
Review: I'm sorry to say that I bought this book. The first 50 pages or so were good, and he obviously knows how to put word together. However the rest of the book is boring and self-indulgent.
Rating:
Summary: get past the title
Review: Enthusiastic recommend: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, by Dave Eggers.
I can't put it down. I also can't believe I got past the title. Please. It is heartbreaking, especially in the beginning. But the second half of the title is Dave Eggers' way of messing with you. He's in and out of self love/self loathing in the flit of an eye all the way through the book.
This memoir is about how Dave moved on to create a life for himself and his younger brother, Toph, after the death of both of their parents (within a few months of each other, when Dave was 22 and Toph was 8). Dave's prose rambles with paranoia and back tracking, but it drew me in. What's great about it is Dave's trying so hard, in his own way, to be Toph's perfect guardian. He wants to give Toph every good thing - all the things that he didn't get growing up. But he can't. It's just not possible. Besides the fact that there are no perfect parents/guardians (which I think Dave begins to realize), it's even more impossible given that he starts at 22 with only a 14-year advantage on Toph. But he agonizes over it. If you can remember the first time you hired a sitter, you'll identify with Dave's inner dialogue that begins before he even gets his car started to leave Toph for the first time. He begins by worrying about things as harmless as the sitter's poor choice of a video, but quickly moves to obsessions about beatings, dismemberment, and decapitation. This doesn't bring him home early. Doesn't even prompt him to call in. Hey, he's 20-something. But if you've been through such obsessions and your bundle of joy is now old enough to be the sitter, it's pretty funny - a good laugh at yourself. Dave's inner voice, which he shares in excessive detail, has humanity, is quite funny and shows love and coping. But Dave is also self possessed, so you're warned. I still found it to be a good read, good writing. Don't skip the "rules for reading" at the beginning.
Rating:
Summary: Best Book Ever
Review: I began this book with some reservations due to some of the reviews, my fears were unfounded. This book is without a doubt the most touching, honest, and revealing book I have ever read. It is at times hilarious, depressing, aggravating, and silly. It is always however honest. The way it deals with raw emotion is outstanding. It is difficult to put down and I never wanted it to end.
Rating:
Summary: Read to page 120...skip to the last chapter
Review: All I can say is, at least he was honest from the start. He tells you that it gets choppy after the first four chapters. The whole MTV interview section blew it for me, at that point I jumped to the last chapter and have not touched this book since. I would say it was a fun read up until then though, and the end is great.
Rating:
Summary: gorgeous
Review: I honestly do not understand criticism of this book. It was beautiful. It was funny. I couldn't put it down. Read the introduction and you will know if its your thing or not. Decide from there. If its not your thing, maybe you can learn a thing or two from this piece.
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