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Dave Eggers is a terrifically talented writer; don't hold his cleverness against him. What to make of a book calledA Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius: Based on a True Story? For starters, there's a good bit of staggering genius before you evengetto the true story, including a preface, a list of "Rules and Suggestions for Enjoyment of This Book," and a 20-page acknowledgements section complete with special mail-in offer, flow chart of the book's themes, and a lovely pen-and-ink drawing of a stapler (helpfully labeled "Here is a drawing of a stapler:").
But on to the true story. At the age of 22, Eggers became both an orphan and a "single mother" when his parents died within five months of one another of unrelated cancers. In the ensuing sibling division of labor, Dave is appointed unofficial guardian of his 8-year-old brother, Christopher. The two live together in semi-squalor, decaying food and sports equipment scattered about, while Eggers worries obsessively about child-welfare authorities, molesting babysitters, and his own health. His child-rearing strategy swings between making his brother's upbringing manically fun and performing bizarre developmental experiments on him. (Case in point: his idea of suitable bedtime reading is John Hersey'sHiroshima.)
The book is also, perhaps less successfully, about being young and hip and out to conquer the world (in an ironic, media-savvy, Gen-X way, naturally). In the early '90s, Eggers was one of the founders of the very funnyMight Magazine, and he spends a fair amount of time here onMight, the hipster culture of San Francisco's South Park, and his own efforts to get on to MTV'sReal World. This sort of thing doesn't age very well--but then, Eggers knows that. There's no criticism you can come up with that he hasn't put intoA.H.W.O.S.G.already. "The book thereafter is kind of uneven," he tells us regarding the contents after page 109, and while that's true, it's still uneven in a way that is funny and heartfelt andinteresting.
All this self-consciousness could have become unbearably arch. It's a testament to Eggers's skill as a writer--and to the heartbreaking particulars of his story--that it doesn't. Currently the editor of the footnote-and-marginalia-intensive journalMcSweeney's(the last issue featured an entire story by David Foster Wallace printed tinily on its spine), Eggers comes from the most media-saturated generation in history--so much so that he can't feel an emotion without the sense that it's already been feltforhim. What may seem like postmodern noodling is really just Eggers writing about pain in the only honest way available to him. Oddly enough, the effect is one of complete sincerity, and--especially in its concluding pages--this memoir as metafiction is affecting beyond all rational explanation.--Mary Park
not perfect but perfectly wonderful Wow! I was reading the various reviews of this book and the spread of opinions is staggering, if not heartbreaking. The five star reviews are as passionate as the one star reviews. And doesn't that say something about the quality of the writing? That love it or hate it does engage you?
I was blown away by just how good this book is. It's a hodgepodge of styles and thoughts and emotions. But the writing, ahhh the writing. It sings, it snarls, it spits at you in anger and sometimes it makes you bust out laughing.
This is not an easy or quick read, and yes, many of the one star reviews are right, it can be a frustratingly egocentric. The one flaw is that Eggers is very young and it shows in his writing, which sometimes lacks maturity or the ability to self-edit. But even at it's worse, it's compelling and practically jumps off the page.
It's worth the work.
An Outstanding Review of Exceptional Insight [Please realize I'm just being ironic with the title.]
When I recently read Kerouac's "On the Road" I lamented that I read it too late in life for it to really change my life. "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" on the other hand I read at the exact right time. If I'd read it five years earlier or five years later I would have been out of touch with the material.
The book opens (after the preface, which you can read or not--I skipped it) with Dave Eggers's mother dying of cancer. At the same time his father also has some kind of cancer, though this was a little less clear. After both parents succumb to their illness, the Eggers clan moves from their dull little Chicago suburb--the kind of place immortalized in John Hughes movies where the most exciting event was Mr. T moving in--to the Left Coast. Older brother Bill moves to LA where Dave, his sister Beth, and younger brother Christopher (called Toph) go to San Francisco. Because Bill is busy with work and Beth has school, Dave ends up caring for Toph.
In a Hollywood version it would probably end up like "Mr. Mom" or "Mrs. Doubtfire" at this point with lots of slapstick as a slacker twentysomething has to care for a 10-year-old boy. In reality (or what's more or less reality) they live like college roommates in semi-squalor, constantly running late to various appointments. In general Toph is a good kid who doesn't create much trouble for Dave--doesn't start running with a gang or shooting drugs or torturing small animals. Not that it's all a breeze; most of the trouble is caused by trying to convince various private schools and such that Dave is Toph's guardian.
Dave does temp jobs in graphic design while also working for "Might Magazine," an upstart youth culture magazine that like all of Gen X in the early-mid-'90s launches a futile rebellion for no real reason. (Come on, what the heck were we rebelling against with the grunge and Nirvana? I have no idea, really.) They pull stunts like try to audition for the "Real World" (when reality TV was a new concept) and fake the death of the kid from "Eight is Enough." From all appearances the magazine is never really that successful. I have a slight bit of knowledge in this area and know how tough it is, especially in this age where everyone can have a blog or website.
What I think really resonates at this point is the experience of not just growing up, but your family growing up and growing apart. As a kid, most of us don't put too much thought into our parents always being there, but as we get older we realize our parents are all too human and prone to the same weaknesses as anyone else. At the same time, the siblings you used to spend so much time with eventually move away and develop lives of their own that you no longer are much of a part of and in time can become almost like strangers. But the good thing about "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" is that Eggers never gets too weepy or maudlin to make the experience dreary or dull. Instead, his almost surreal descriptions tinge even the darkest moments like a friend in a coma and another who attempts suicide with dark humor. Dave's neurotic inner-life reminds me of a less-sexual "Portnoy's Complaint" by Philip Roth, only it's more or less real, which is more amazing.
It might be interesting to read this book in five years and see how much it still resonates with me, or if by then this book and I grow apart as well. Wait and see.
That is all.Lives up to its title This book is brilliant. Its humor is perfectly balanced with its raw life lessons. I recommend this to anyone who appreciates writers who push the envelope without seeming pushy.
