A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

The literary sensation of the year, a book that redefines both family and narrative for the twenty-first century. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius is the moving memoir of a college senior who, in the space of five weeks, loses both of his parents to cancer and inherits his eight-year-old brother. Here is an exhilarating debut that manages to be simultaneously hilarious and wildly inventive as well as a deeply heartfelt story of the love that holds a family together.

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius is an instant classic that will be read in paperback for decades to come. The Vintage edition includes a new appendix by the author. more

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From: Amazon
Posted: Sep-16-2009

Verbal Diarrhea

"[...] brevity is the soul of wit"Actual dialogue (page 64):"Are you bored?""Yeah," he says."Why?""Because you're just lying there.""Well, I'm tired.""Well, I'm bored.""Why don't you go down and build a sandcastle?""Where?""Down there, by the water.""Why?""Because it's fun.""How much do I...

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From: Amazon
Posted: Aug-26-2009

Book Discussion

We used it for a book discussion, my sons and I, we all read it from a different perspective, siblings, students, caretaker, young men starting their careers. We all enjoyed it. Funny, sad, thought provoking.

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From: Amazon
Posted: Jul-31-2009

Terribly dissapointing, couldn't read past the first 50 pages

I started the book expecting a lot. Instead it reads like a very unedited diary of a boring, self-indulgent person. I don't see the hype, this book should have gone through a ton of editing and should have lost the "notes for a novel," stilted diary prose. I couldn't get past the first fifty...

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From: Amazon
Posted: Jul-15-2009

Trite, Self-Absorbed, "Posh" Writing

Dave Eggers has become the champion of hip writers today, and not without reason: he is a remarkable stylist. Sadly, that is all he is. His ironic, self-deprecating humor is completely transparent for what it really is: self-obsession. Many have called A Heartbreaking Work emotionally honest,...

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From: Amazon
Posted: Jul-09-2009

A must read memoir

Dave eggers wites beautifully about this hard coming of age lessons. This author has a great sense of humor, but also gives light to the seriousness of family and responsibility.

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From: Amazon
Posted: Jun-23-2009

Breaking The Dave Eggers Seal

I will always love this book, because it gave me Dave Eggers. I was going through my own heartbreak when I first picked it up, so maybe that has something to do with the immediate emotional attachment I felt to his story, but I suspect his undeniable talent had something to do with it as well. He...

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From: Amazon
Posted: May-27-2009

pointless rant

like many other reviewers who found this book distasteful, i got so sick and tired of eggers' wandering, random pomposity that i put the book down two chapters short of the end. i have never gotten so close to the end of a book without feeling any desire to finish it. i didn't even bother...

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From: Amazon
Posted: Nov-26-2008

The Mature Artist...

I've heard it said that the mature artist does not bring attention to his work. Also, it has been said that an intelligent artist not break the rules merely to break the rules, but does so only to underline or add an exclamation point to his art. There are flashes of brilliance in this, and in...

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From: Amazon
Posted: Nov-17-2008

A dizzying book

There is an image at the beginning of this book, of two brothers driving along Highway 1. They are flying on the edge of the world, going too fast, with only the guardrail between them and the ocean below, and they feel dizzy and free and reckless. It's an image that captures part of the soul...

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From: Amazon
Posted: Nov-16-2008

I really liked it, but it's not for everyone - 4 1/2

Maybe I'm judging this differently because I'd heard nothing about this book before randomly picking it up at the library (I thought the name "Eggers" was funny). I didn't have high expectations or anything, but I... actually really liked it..."A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" has some...

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