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A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Dave Eggers. Vintage Books: 1999. ISBN: 0375725784. 464 pages.
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And now for something completely different. You've got to hand it to Dave Eggers,
if not for this completely unique, utterly absorbing memoir, than for that eye-catching title. It is an appropriately
self-demeaning, self-conscious name for a memoir that wallows in self-awareness, in I-am-the-writer awareness, in an
irresistible, irreverent, joyfully exuberant manner. It's the true story (if, as the author questions, there can be any
such thing) of the adventures of two modern day orphans. When both of his parents die within weeks of each other, Dave is
left to take care of his seven year old brother, Toph. As Eggers relates the story of the brothers' move to San Francisco
and their efforts to regain some sort of stable family life, you can feel how uncomfortable he is with the stigma of grief,
with the problem of sliding into the Oh Poor Me tearjerker. But his fear, paranoia, and frantic need for control leak out
of every wonderfully written scene. Don't be alarmed by the book's unusual 34-page preface, which allegedly explains
everything, but press on. Or, you could take the author's suggestion, and just skip over the whole thing.
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