Dave Eggers - A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

Pros: The heartbreaking part

Cons: Still waiting for the staggering genius part

Review: Copernicus was wrong: Earth and all the planets actually, as it turns out, revolve around Dave Eggers.

Now, let me warn you, this review is far longer than most of mine, so if you want to just skip ahead to about mid-way, that's when I get...

Pros: none

Cons: none

Review:

Posted April 30, 2000

This Epinion as well my others are on hiatus.

In the event Epinions gets up and running smoothly, it may return. It is hard to dedicate a meaningful chunk of your life only to find that your...

Pros: A brilliant, exciting book; a surprise from someone I thought I had pegged.

Cons: Cutesy literary devices sometimes become aggravating, and personally I am very jealous.

Review: In the spirit of Dave's book, let me say straight up front that I am shamelessly trading on my personal acquaintance with the author to do two things: 1) draw some more attention to this review, and 2) make me look cooler by association. More likely, I...

Pros: Hilarious, honest, self-mocking,

Cons: First page lists cons in detail.

Review: The cover is irresistible. The red theatrical curtain rising (or perhaps falling) on a Technicolor sunset. The overblown title that must be self-referentially self-deprecating, or maybe not. And finally, irrelevantly, the little words, "Based on a...

Pros: I laughed! I cried! I stayed up until 4 a.m. to finish, then slept until noon!

Cons: Reminded me that I, myself, am not that great of a writer

Review: After the Eggers bookreading in the City, I overheard one hipster savant say to another: "He even uses the same font as David Foster Wallace."

He was wrong, of course. Flip through "Infinite Jest" and look at the...

Pros: Surreal. Intense. Pathos ridden. Brilliant throughout.

Cons: Much too short - take your time and enjoy getting to know Eggers and family

The Bottom Line: Eggers didn't achieve class-favorite status for nothing. We'll see lots more of him in the future. This will not be topped though - without a doubt staggering in its genius.

Review: Pre-Read Initial Impression
I must admit that a year before I had the pleasure of discovering Eggers for myself I noticed Staggering Genius' title in the New York Times Top 10 Best Sellers list and laughed at the Author's apparent audacity....

Pros: It has a way of framing giddy, mundane moments exhilaratingly. It has picturesque prose, if I may be allowed a bit of alliteration.

Cons: None. Nada. Zilch. Z-z-z-z-eee-r-r-r-r-O!

Review: Yowzers! I went to use the facilites (watercloset, john, head, lavatory), the other morn, selected a stall, put up those warning tapes that vice use at the site of violent crimes, erected sawhorses, and, for good measure, put up a road flare, all to...

Pros: Hilarious scenes; a conversational tone that gives the story personality

Cons: Time periods can get confusing as the scenes skip around

The Bottom Line: It's definitely a must-read for all people in their twenties. Eggers embodies the spirit of our generation.

Review: This was definitely a challenging book. At times I felt like I was reading my own life recorded by someone else. The thoughts that the main character (the author) was having were often the same as the ones that I experienced in similar situations. At...

Pros: Well-written, very modern way of exploring a life story, witty.

Cons: Probably only hurt by the amount of hype it's received, sometimes egotistical

Review: Yes. I like this book. Yes. This is going to be ANOTHER review of this trendy little book that declares it phenomenal.

Don't blame me. It's not my fault. I couldn't help it.

What were my chances, really, given the style of this...

Pros: funny, tragic, amazing

Cons: tough to read if you've been through similar things, because he gets to the heart of what you've tried to ignore

Review: I'm not usually a huge fan of memoirs, but Dave Egger's book definitely grabbed me. Not only does it talk about places in San Francisco where I've hung out, but he sums up the laughter and pain that come with any death or change in a family. He's glib...