This book has been sitting on my shelves for years. For some reason, I never got around to reading it - but I have gotten to know more about the author, Dave Eggers, through his writing center in San Francisco, 826 Valencia (http://www.826valencia.org/), and through his annual compliations of the The Best American NonRequired Reading books (http://www.amazon.com/Best-American-Nonrequired-Reading-2007/dp/0618902813). I knew that Eggers's parents both passed away within a short time of each other, and that he was tasked with raising his younger brother. I also knew that Eggers's sister later criticized the book stating that her role in her brother's upbringing had been grossly underrepresented in the book. The critiques of the book reminded me a lot of the whole James Frey fiasco and I think I was never in the mood to read a fake-memoir. But, I decided it was finally time. The first third of the book is quite engaging. Eggers tells the story of his family relatively straight-forwardly. He is accutely self-aware of his own indulgences and writes as if he is having a conversation with his readers. Just out of college, Eggers moves his then 7 year old brother Toph to Berkeley. Their older sister Beth attends law school at Boalt, and their older brother Bill moves to LA. As Eggers and Toph live in bachelor-like squalor, Eggers recounts all his failures as a surrogate-parent, while Toph speaks to him with the insight of a Jungian scholar. Eggers then recounts his failed attempt to be on the Real World San Francisco, and it is at this point that the narrative becomes almost absurdist. His dialogue is acknowledged as reconstructed and he delves further into his self-indulgent narrative - though presumably the fact that he recognizes it as such is supposed to be interpreted by the reader as charming. After finishing the book, I was curious as to what the Eggers family was up to. Sadly, I learned that the sister Beth overdosed on pills in 2002 (apparent suicide), that Toph ended up in college, and of course Eggers himself has continued to write and edit - for people that adore him and others who find him excruciatingly irritating. On balance, I think I like Eggers. His work at 826 Valencia is incredible and his writing style while grating at times is at least creative and different. I think I will continue to give him more time in my reading life by checking out his quarterly literary journal McSweeney's (http://www.mcsweeneys.net/).
Sunday, July 6, 2008
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius - Dave Eggers
This book has been sitting on my shelves for years. For some reason, I never got around to reading it - but I have gotten to know more about the author, Dave Eggers, through his writing center in San Francisco, 826 Valencia (http://www.826valencia.org/), and through his annual compliations of the The Best American NonRequired Reading books (http://www.amazon.com/Best-American-Nonrequired-Reading-2007/dp/0618902813). I knew that Eggers's parents both passed away within a short time of each other, and that he was tasked with raising his younger brother. I also knew that Eggers's sister later criticized the book stating that her role in her brother's upbringing had been grossly underrepresented in the book. The critiques of the book reminded me a lot of the whole James Frey fiasco and I think I was never in the mood to read a fake-memoir. But, I decided it was finally time. The first third of the book is quite engaging. Eggers tells the story of his family relatively straight-forwardly. He is accutely self-aware of his own indulgences and writes as if he is having a conversation with his readers. Just out of college, Eggers moves his then 7 year old brother Toph to Berkeley. Their older sister Beth attends law school at Boalt, and their older brother Bill moves to LA. As Eggers and Toph live in bachelor-like squalor, Eggers recounts all his failures as a surrogate-parent, while Toph speaks to him with the insight of a Jungian scholar. Eggers then recounts his failed attempt to be on the Real World San Francisco, and it is at this point that the narrative becomes almost absurdist. His dialogue is acknowledged as reconstructed and he delves further into his self-indulgent narrative - though presumably the fact that he recognizes it as such is supposed to be interpreted by the reader as charming. After finishing the book, I was curious as to what the Eggers family was up to. Sadly, I learned that the sister Beth overdosed on pills in 2002 (apparent suicide), that Toph ended up in college, and of course Eggers himself has continued to write and edit - for people that adore him and others who find him excruciatingly irritating. On balance, I think I like Eggers. His work at 826 Valencia is incredible and his writing style while grating at times is at least creative and different. I think I will continue to give him more time in my reading life by checking out his quarterly literary journal McSweeney's (http://www.mcsweeneys.net/).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment