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A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

List Price: $14.00
Your Price: $10.50
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: I Liked the Book, But What's the Big Deal?
Review: I enjoyed the book, liked the writing, and thought it needed more focus. The packaging was creative, and it's nice Eggers is concerned about the total product, but just because it's "self-conscious" doesn't mean the book somehow rates a mention among the great battles of the War of Orginality vs. Complacent Monotony.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Honey B Temple: Shut Up
Review: This book changed the face of American literature--like it or not, Ms. Honey. I'm sorry that you applied your tired early 1990's self-righteous political correctness to this book.... What's amazing about this book: it blurs the line between fiction and non-fiction but does so with a humorous self-consciousness.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Neither heartbreaking or genius. . .
Review: but it was staggeringly difficult to finish this rambling memoir devoted to a self-centered man-boy. If a woman had written so poorly about her tough circumstances, the book probably would not have even made it to Oprah's dubious list.

A Pulitzer finalist? Puhleeze!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: good stuff
Review: This was probably the most unique and entertaining autobiography that I have ever run across. It is written in a pretty extreme "stream of consciousness" format, and the "plot" (if you can call it that) seemed to crawl along at some points, but the authour is such a talented writer that he never lost my interest. This is the only book I've ever read that made me laugh and then cry, all in the space of a few pages - for that alone I think it's definitely worth picking up.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: More hipper-than-thou whitebread writing. When will it end?
Review: Dave Eggers is a bad writer and a wonderful self-promoter. He and his hipster friends at McSweeney's illustrate what's wrong with American literature today, and specifically with west coast hipster literature, which reflects the reality, more often than not, of privileged white people writing about how hard it is to be angst-filled when you can only afford one latte a day and daddy's old Volvo he gave you when he bought his Lexus is SO expensive to fill with gas! Eggers is smarmy and too satisfied with his own cleverness to bother saying anything new about anything. Yes, his story makes for a vaguely interesting human-interest yarn fit for the "People" section of the Sunday newspaper, but it's only good for a whole book if he's able to interpret events for the reader in some kind of meaningful way. This book is a collection of Eggerisms--self-important witticisms that he thought up while sipping lattes with his hipster friends. He and his ilk are a sorry excuse for a literary community, devoted as they are to their own belief that they are gods of the written word, when in fact they are only immature boys with about as much life experience as the average Catholic school girl, basking in each others' self-importance. Dorothy Parker is spinning in her grave!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: An emotional tornado leading to salvation
Review: It took me 2 months to read through the first chapter of this book as the imagery and emotion were unbearable. Dave Eggers recounts the death of his mother and the trauma that event had on him and then spend the rest of the book piecing his life and his emotional state back together. Often taking a comical slant on his own life, this book is filled with anger, sarcasm, emotional confusion, lust and longing for a 'normal' life.

This book will touch and frighten and entertain all who read it. Just be prepared to be overwhelmed by Dave's circumstances and emotion. If you've lost a close family member, this book will be doubly poignant, in the end giving hope to Dave and to the reader.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great writing
Review: Dave Eggers has proved to me that he has the talent to be a great writer....He already is! Eggers' writing kept me turning the pages of this autobiographical jaunt through young adulthood, and left me wanting more. Although the story itself gets slow at times, the writing is what will keep you reading. Eggers' certainly has a knack for stringing together beautiful and entertaining thoughts. I recommend this book to anyone that enjoys the art of writing, particularly those of us in our early- to mid-20s. The book will make you realize that most of us are lucky to lead as simple lives as we do at this age, without the burdens of suddenly having to raise an 8-year-old while also trying to finish school and start a career.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Staggered by the genius
Review: If there was one thing I could say to everyone to make them read this book I would say it. It started as a memoir project in my English 401 class and has ended with an obsession and hunger for more. There is so much emotion in this book of Dave Eggers', but somehow he manages to not bring his readers down. His writing is sarcastic, funny, and brutally honest and I found myself slowing my reading the closer I got to the end, trying to savor the words while they lasted. I recommend not only this book, but anything else you can possibly find written by Eggers. He has a truly unique voice and leaves you questioning aspects of your own life.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: The end does not come soon enough
Review: Reading this felt much like reading "Catcher in the Rye." The style and voice are very similar, but Eggars is endlessly cynical. If you do not enjoy cynicism, skip this book entirely.

Unlike Sallinger's short and to-the-point story, this book seemed to go on forever. Eggars rambles, and you find yourself trying to speed-read and skip passages, even pages. While I do believe he has talent and think he had a story worth telling, if Eggars were to distill some of his thoughts, this book would have been much more satisfying.

The story, when you can find it, is very good. He is funny, and you will be touched by the efforts he makes to care for his brother.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: the perfect alchemy
Review: It is 60 percent wit, 40 percent a fragile, fragile beauty- the perfect alchemy. A must read.


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