A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
2000 • 437 pages
Ratings69
Average rating3.8
15
Ratings69
Average rating3.8
From Wikipedia: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (ISBN 0-330-48455-9) is a memoir by Dave Eggers released in 2000. It chronicles his stewardship of younger brother Christopher "Toph" Eggers following the cancer-related deaths of his parents.
The book was an enormous commercial and critical success, reaching number one on The New York Times bestseller list and being nominated as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction. Time magazine and several newspapers dubbed it "The Best Book of the Year". Critics praised the book for its wild, vibrant prose, and it was described as "big, daring [and] manic-depressive" by The New York Times. The book was chosen as the 12th best book of the decade by The Times
Reviews with the most likes.
Heartbreaking? I don't think so. Genius? I really don't think so. And yes, I realise the title is ironic, but if you use it, you have to come up with the goods. The book is not without merit, it's just not good enough to justify the hype or the self-promoting title.
Wow, is this an intense book. It is heartbreaking and staggering, relate-able and devastating, painful and fascinating.
Started strong and really interesting, then I got bored. Would have preferred if the author had only focused on his family.
This was fantastic. It was funny and unconventional and sad. A really, really excellent memoir.
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