What readers think of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, plus links to write your own review.

A HEARTBREAKING WORK OF STAGGERING GENIUS is delightful. Dave Eggers has a writing style like I’ve never read before. What would otherwise be, for example, sad or serious, he lightens. My gosh, he even makes the copyright page enjoyable reading! And I'm glad I read a hardcover copy and could see the cover minus the dust jacket. Check it out if you can.

This is a memoir. Eggers explains that he wouldn’t really call A HEARTBREAKING WORK OF STAGGERING GENIUS a true story because he made up the dialog. And sometimes that dialog is obviously his invention, such as when a 9-year-old boy talks with the maturity of a 30-year-old man or when he begins with his MTV interview that turns into something else. I sometimes had to re-read to understand what he was doing.

Before the beginning of A HEARTBREAKING WORK OF STAGGERING GENIUS Eggers notes all the parts you can safely skip. But that made me want to read them all the more, and I didn’t skip anything. I admit, though, after 100 or so pages his style sometimes aggravated me, his constant repetition, so I did skim some paragraphs. Even though I could tell that those paragraphs represented his private thought processes, I sometimes found them disjointed and monotonous.

Most reviews of this book concentrate on only part of the story, he and his little brother. Yes, Eggers raises his much younger brother, Toph, after their parents died. And, of course, Toph is a big part of the story, occupying Eggers' thoughts most of the time.

But he also emphasizes all the energy he simultaneously expends on a startup magazine. Poor Eggers is always exhausted.

Also running throughout his story are his remembrances of his mother, beginning near her end. Yet he doesn't have much to say about his father, apparently an alcoholic.

Eggers' memoir has three main subjects, not just one. Probably most readers find his relationship with Toph to be the most touching.

I may be a bit biased because I am a fan of the "memoir movement".I realize not everyone is into this kind of thing and that's cool. I also think that memoirs are the truest form of literary art due to the fact that the author is not going through any other means. I love fiction, but the author is essentially expressing his or herself through another character. In this book, however, the author lays himself out in perfect honesty. I have true respect for this book and its author.

yes yes i have heard it all this book is the newist thing, the memoir is the new writting device for our generation. the problem i had with this book, besides the woe is me, was it slips into the mtv generation:great style no content. the best part of the book was the picture of the stapler, it just went down hill form there. if you enjoy watching mtv, and you are part of the 'me' generation then you will love this book. so david foster wallace enjoyed the book, so what, i know many people who have enjoyed this book; i also know many people who enjoy the crap mtv feeds them. just turn it off, just stop reading this book or read it i don't care. if life models art, then this book has doomed us, be a sad hedonist and read some of this book then just put it down after the stapler part and forget the rest,,,

hilarious, awesome read. touching.

I was forced to read the book in my freshman college writing class, but was very surprised at the depth of it. Anyone who claims the story is boring and depressing obviously chose not to look beyond the surface of the story. The author's style and irony keeps the reader interested throughout. Yes, the author seems a bit twisted, but it makes it all the better to read. I would definately recommend it to anyone looking for a story to make you think.

The book was not good at all. I don't know how anyone could like it

From every angle, I hear about this book as a brilliant work which makes you experience a wide variety of emotions at the same time. I confess, the only emotions I experienced while reading this book were...well...disgust and boredom. Perhaps I simply didn't understand the deep subliminal messages of this book, but all I saw was a long and largely imagined tale of two males, one of whom swore too much. Although the brotherly/fatherly interactions between Toph and the author were touching, they were in no way different from the average coming of age/orphan tragedy memoir. Indeed, the only thing that made this book unique was the author's random analyses of his own book and life. Other than that, it was unremarkable and certainly not worth the time or effort of reading...

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius is indeed a heartbreaking work of staggering genius. Many of this generation who were forced to grow up too quickly will find Mr. Eggers' stew of prose to be a kindred to their own. This is one of the best and most original books I've read.