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Home > Books > Non-fiction > Biography Books > A Biography Books > A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius - Dave Eggers

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for A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius - Dave Eggers

Rating Summary based on 5 reviews

  • 5 Stars
    		4
  • 4 Stars
    		1
  • 3 Stars
    		0
  • 2 Stars
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  • 1 Star
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  		• 3.6
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  		• 4.0
  		• 3.4
  		• 4.2
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  • 21 of 21 Ciao users found the following review helpful
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    Level 5 PJE_

    Member since 06/08/2000

    Reviews written: 93

    5 Stars Zen and the Art of Orphaned Brother Maintenance 20/02/2001
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages Staggering.

    Disadvantages Disadvantages Heartbreaking.

    Irresistable title huh? You don't half have to have some chutzpah to give your first book - your own life story - a title like that, but it's no exaggeration. I mean, how often does a book make you giggle before you even reach page one? I laughed out loud just reading the copyright details. If you don't believe me, nip into Waterstone's and have a shufty. Described by critics as post-post-modern, even the acknowledgements leave you gasping: "While the author is self-conscious about being self-referential, he is also knowing about that self-conscious self-referentiality. Further, and if you're ... more
  • 23 of 23 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of tuftyclub

    tuftyclub

    4 Stars tiresome journey with glimpses of light 11/02/2002
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages see op

    Disadvantages Disadvantages see op

    Not sure if it was heartbreaking - maybe more of a stagger down a tiresome emotional journey with occasional glimpses of light. I'm not going to attempt a précis of the whole tale here, but put down a few salient points that I enjoyed about the book- I never see the point of reviewing a book by rehashing the whole story. Basically, the book recounts a portion of the life of a young man- Dave Eggers and his attempts to bring up his younger brother when both his parents die of cancer in quick succession. It is very well written- especially for a first book- but is pretentious to the extent that ... more
  • 15 of 15 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of Emmak

    Emmak

    5 Stars Self professed genius' autobiography 20/02/2001
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages It's cleverly written, because whilst wallowing in the morbid it still manages to be quite lighthearted. I don't know how.

    Disadvantages Disadvantages You do have to read about death at the beginning, sorry.

    I came across this fantastic book when the Guardian printed extracts in it's weekend pull out section. It was a couple of months before the book was to come out in this country. I eagerly awaited it's release; at the price of £14.99, it's more than I would normally consider spending on a book. Preferring to buy 2nd hand books from local charity shops, or for those books I feel won't turn up there, borrow from a friend or buy if under a tenner. But the extracts and the little I'd heard about Dave Eggers autobiography, had me in the shop on it's day of release. Dave Eggers was 21 when both his ... more
  • 20 of 20 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of Puggers

    Level 6 Puggers

    Member since 29/03/2005

    Reviews written: 229

    5 Stars Sad, Mad and Staggeringly Good 08/05/2010
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages Written with furious, incandescent flair - runs the range of emotions; clever and funny.

    Disadvantages Disadvantages Occasionally difficult to digest.

    Dave Eggers was well-suited for the novelisation of Maurice Sendak's much-loved children's book Where the Wild Things Are - a tale of childhood fantasy in which the protagonist flees the woes of home for an island inhabited by weird and wonderful creatures. For Eggers' writing, not unlike those Wild Things, is a curious beast, and his lucid, foaming prose lights up this book, his wonderfully-titled debut. Pretty much a memoir of his early-to-mid twenties (but not quite) and pretty much a true story (but not quite), A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (henceforth, to save my fingers ... more
  • 11 of 11 Ciao users found the following review helpful
    Picture of thedayglocarousel

    thedayglocarousel

    5 Stars Heartbreaking, stagerring, genius? Yes! 28/10/2005
    User recommends the product

    Advantages Advantages Eggers truly human voice commands respect - despite what sometimes, admittedly, comes across as arrogance.

    Disadvantages Disadvantages Perhaps a little long winded in parts. But you really have to remember that this is sincerely part of Eggers intended technique.

    Your Mum dies of stomach Cancer and your Dad of a heart tumour. Then, as the 'responsible' sibling of three, you're the one left to bring up your 8 year old brother. What do you do next? Well, if your Dave Eggers - self confessed martyr - you sell your childhood home, take your brother to California, take as many advantages from the sympathy of others and as much cash from government organisations as you can (after all you are now "owed"), start up a failing magazine and attempt to raise a child in the only adolescent, slightly post-pubescent way you know how; then of course you write a book ... more
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