Rating: 
Summary: One of My New Favorites
Review:
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius is the topsoil of a tragedy, the first layers of earth pushed aside in a painful personal excavation, where the treasure seems to remain deeply buried.
This first book by author Dave Eggers is a memoir. Eggers tells of the years following the deaths of both his parents - deaths which occurred within 5 weeks of one another - and how, at the age of 21, he became his younger brother Toph's guardian.
Eggers uses a highly self-conscious style of writing - confiding his fears of his own early death, terrors that something untoward will happen to his brother, or the sensations of his own flapping genitalia when running naked for a photo shoot. But his utter preoccupation with here-and-now mundanity or with imagined future horrors are but his shield against the true conscious experience of his own grief.
Although the story of AHWOSG rests upon the tragic reality of parental deaths, ironically there is no mourning. There were no burials, no gravestones, no remains to be grieved over. Soon after these deaths, Dave and Toph move from Lake Forest, IL to Berkeley. Dave nominally ensures that Toph is fed and clothed and schooled, but without embodied parental authority, "in a world with neither floor nor ceiling," the two live in semi-anarchy, enjoying the freedom to eat junk food and drive to the beach and play frisbee whenever the impulse might strike.
Unable to see logic in his parents' deaths, he sublimates his need for order and justice into the making of a magazine, Might. The mission of Might is to take "a formless and mute mass of human potential and...to mold it into a political force." This counter-cultural magazine is designed to be both provocative and empowering, but over time it becomes more shocking and in-your-face. Eggers's own rage and grief remain unresolved and become expressed editorially in Might, so much so that Toph asks him about his work "Where does anger like that come from?"
His failure to grieve his mother's death head-on is carried to his subsequent relationships with women. Girlfriends fade away inexplicably. Eggers does not react to his sister's marriage, a symbolic separation from family. The story line of the sudden, unexpected death of a minor female character dead-ends.
Eggers's failure to give us his grief directly in these pages is not a literary failure. The writing is strong and compelling. He is at his best when writing manic stream-of-consciousness passages about his fears of his mother's imminent death, his terror of having lost Toph at a hotel, his panic when accompanying a suicidal friend to the hospital. Here he is intimate and immediate, observing the profundities of possible death side by side with the ordinary details of television, of the slowness of elevators, or of the Conan O'Brien show. During these passages, one cannot read fast enough.
Throughout the book, Eggers repeatedly gives us passages wherein he and Toph toss a frisbee to one another. There is beauty and delight in keeping this little plastic disc afloat, keeping it soaring and sailing through the air. As long as the frisbee stays flying, there is hope, they are happy children, and they are immortal. This game of toss connects these brothers in a mythical mutual immortality.
Toph seems to serve as Eggers's talisman of hope, a beacon to the future where the past is too painful to confront. Beyond all the irony and self-consciousness (and looseness of the writing), AHWOSG is a wonderful book, certainly one worth picking up. Beside AHWOSG, another (much shorter, rougher) Amazon quick-pick I enjoyed is THE LOSER'S CLUB by Richard Perez -- a book I can't stop thinking about since I picked up a "used" copy.
Rating: 
Summary: Too much of a bad thing - too many pages and nothing to say
Review:
Consider this: if you want to read a book about a true story of losing one's parents, David Eggers will give you that and much more. The problem is the much more - lots of thoughts that just sit in there with no connection to the rest of the book whatsoever.
The author undoubtedly went trough a great tragedy, losing his
parents in such short time. But this fact by itself does not make a great story. And, by the way, nothing else in this book does.
Is a writer allowed to write whatever crosses his mind? Sure. But does it make good literature? I doubt. I got the
feeling that the reviewer was so sorry for the author that (s)he felt the author's "healing" through the publication of the book would be worth the extra pages. Not worth for the reader, though.
By the way: nothing against well written prose and loose ends - try instead Kazuo Ishiguro "The Unconsoled". Lots and lots of loose ends, superbly written and no agression against the reader.
Rating:
Summary: Rambling But Fun...That's One Reader's Opinion! Back off!
Review:
Hey, is this novel perfect? No. Is any novel perfect? No. A novel by virtue of being a rambling narrative art form of length is sure to be imperfect. Always expect a certain amount of built-in failure, exciting and interesting moments compromised with dull parts and creaky narrative bridges. That's life. Show me ANY classic, and I'll point out where it sucks.
Once I adjusted to the style of this novel, which is yes rambling, I found much to enjoy here. The brotherly relationship is the emotional core of the novel. When it deviates from that relationship (which happens often, unfortunately) the result is less than affecting. The part I absolutely hated was the MTV interview, which is MONSTROUSLY DULL and actually quite unneccessary, grinding the book to a virtual halt; and I had to do some heavy skimming/speed reading here or I would have dumped the entire book (which, as judging by the reviews on this site, must happen quite often).
But overall I must say that did like the book, particularly the brotherly relationship and the final passages involving the mother's church funeral, which are indeed quite sad. Next to the much shorter, more compact novel, THE LOSERS' CLUB by Richard Perez, AHWOSG is the most interesting literary "experiment" I've read this year; particularly since both novels concern the 1990s -- an era I'm currently obsessed with; hateful as I am of the whole Bush/Iraq era.
AHWOSG is a intertesting curiousity, although of course it's not for everyone. Worth the millions and all that? Nah. But that just suits and hype and marketing for ya. That's capitalism, all smoke and mirrors. Oi!
Rating: 
Summary: Gutwrenching Blast of Intoxicating Flatus
Review:
Layered in self-congratulatory bluster and Vonnegut-flavored silliness, this popular memoir wanders without fear of editing for literally hundreds of pages. In "My Rules and Suggestions for Enjoyment of This Book" (opening page) the author Mr. Eggers advises us, "Actually, many of you might want to skip much of the middle, namely pages 239-351, which concern the lives of people in their early twenties, and those lives are very difficult to make interesting, even when they seemed interesting to those living them at the time." Undaunted by a mere hundred and twelve pages of "difficult to make interesting" recollection, Eggers doesn't forget to mention his sexual orientation, height, eye color, allergies, income, how much he spent on postage, etc. all before the book even begins. Apologies and gimmicks abound. Personally, I'd prefer something more considerate of at least the possibility of a discriminating readership, but if you're a big fan of "talent" and you like to see a guy intoxicated on his own fumes, then this is your baby.
Rating:
Summary: I really wanted to enjoy this book...
Review: ...but it just wasn't going to happen. See, this book had been sitting on my shelf for over five years. I finally decided to give it a go, but damn, I couldn't get through it. I only read half the book.I agree with many of the reviews on here that say that Eggers is too sincere, and too self conscious in his writing. He just goes on and on and on, with no real focus. This gets to be very tiring and boring. It doesn't make for an enjoyable read at all. I feel like he's rambling to get to a point, but he never really does. He has these moments of brilliance, where he's very funny, or the way he describes something can be so beautiful. Sadly, I can't say the rest of the book is like that. Another thing about this book is how disjointed it was. I didn't realize his mother had died in the hospital, and then the next thing I know, he's talking about driving around in California. The change is very abrubt, and it took me a while to say, 'Oh, his mother died...and they moved to Cali, I get it now!'. I shouldn't have to question what the hell has happened. Or the 'interview transcript' where it takes a turn, and you realize it's fake. It took me a while to realize what was going on. It's an annoying little thing Eggers does. I applaud those people who were actually able to get through this book. I could not, unfortunately. Eggers has an awesome potential to him, but he needs to edit his work. Sorry Dave, but I really did have high hopes for this book of yours. But did you have to make it so tiring?
Rating:
Summary: Yes, Heartbreaking, but also Very Funny
Review: Dave Eggers has done something wonderful with this work. AHWOSG is brilliant and well written. Eggers' story really is tragic, yet he makes us laugh all the way through. His parents die within a few weeks of each other and at 21, Eggers must care for his young brother Toph. Eggers' writing shows exceptional talent and promise. I know that he has been troubled by the idea of profitting off of the loss of his parents, but frankly I don't see it that way. He is profitting off the strenghts of his talents. The book definitely is a little rough around the edges. He sometimes uses extremely awkward devices to get things he wants to say in the novel (such as a fake interview with MTV, which goes on for pages and pages). Eggers is at his best when he is just telling his story about raising his brothers and dealing with the obstacles which naturally come with his situation. One of the things I loved about the book was his honesty. He openly admits that he went to open house at his brother's grade school hoping to meet an attractive single mother. Eggers also is honest with his yearnings to be on his own and his deep love for his brother. I also found it interesting that Eggers seemingly does not realized that so much of what he experienced as a parent is universal. What parent hasn't been nagged by a terrible, and totally paranoid fear that the wonderful babysitter he or she has just entrusted his children to will turn out to be an ax murderer. What parent hasn't chastised their children for not dressing themselves and being late. Eggers take on all of the mundane aspects of parenting is completely refreshing. This book, for all the sadness, will keep you laughing, out loud.
Rating: 
Summary: An engaging book that made me laugh out loud
Review: Dave Eggers' book is a hilarious and poignant memoir. Mr. Eggers tells an extremely sad story with a backdrop of humorous observations on the life he has led and the sudden demanding situation that is thrust upon him. The book is an obvious cathartic effort. While this emotional outpouring provides for most of the engaging qualities of the story, it sometimes goes overboard. A number of passages lapse into stream of consciousness prose which many times works but sometimes runs on too long or becomes incoherent (I've read the last two pages three times now and still don't know what the heck he's talking about). I prefer the narrative portions, the commentary leading up to the death of his parents, his life afterwards, and the flashbacks that occur along the way. And I very much like the whimsical experimentation in the preface and the title and copyright pages. I highly recommend this book, even though sometimes you get the urge to skip a few pages.
Rating: 
Summary: Bitter, Sad, Self-Obessed, Humorous....but not quite genius
Review: Frankly, I felt this was a heartbreaking work of staggering genius that sputtered and stopped just shy of greatness. The first half of the book was brilliant. The middle was torturous. The end (being that it followed so closely after the agonizing middle) just didn't feel as captivating anymore. I disagree, however, with the reviewer who criticized Eggers for not caring about his mother and sister. There is tenderness and profound sadness there, you just have to perceive it underneath the facade Eggers constructs. His brutal portrayal of the death of a loved one and the complication of family relationships afterward is, perhaps, too much for some readers. I found it to be honest (probably the most honest aspect of the book). That said, I recommend this book to those with an open mind, an appreciation for ironic humor, and a tolerance for an unconventional approach to writing. It was mad. It was refreshing. But it was just a little too unedited to live up to the title completely.
Rating:
Summary: Belatedly joining the minority
Review: I finally got around to borrowing this book from the library, after it sat on my "To Read" list for several years. The first chapter, which contains everything of value the author has to say, is strikingly effective and effecting writing. However, the rest of the book is self-indulgent, condescending and, worst of all, relentlessly boring. When I was Egger's age, I thought a book about my friends and I and our lives of "staggering genius" was just what the literary world was waiting for. Thankfully, I grew up and got over myself.
Rating:
Summary: I love this book
Review: I laughed, I cried, I read it several times. I "got it" much better on the second read, and realized the staggering genius of his writing.
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