A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

Is this book overrated or what? I think I may be the last person in the world to read it, though, and in my opinion, it has not aged well. I can see how in 2000 that’s Eggers’ style would be new and exciting and different, but in 2008? Done. to. death. I guess that’s not really his fault.

Did I think it was a bad book? No. Did I think the writing was bad? For the most part, no. There was just some really gimmicky devices he used that annoyed the hell out of me. Like when he starts having imaginary conversations with his “brother” or his friend “John” which are really just an excuses for some self-indulgent rambling. I originally thought that this was another example of being fresh in 2000 and stale by 2008, but then I went back and read the (amusing) Preface (which he advises you to skip in the first place) and he acknowledges that he knows he did some gimmicky stuff. So the fact that he admitted that kind of annoyed me even more.

The thing about this book is that it feels like you are reading this guy’s blog. Which is maybe why I think it hasn’t aged well? I read blogs every single day and have been for years, so this style is nothing new to me. In 2000, it would have been. Always late to the game, I guess.

Also, like a blog, it’s really pretty uneven. There’s some really good chapters (The first 4 chapters which he also suggests are the only ones you need to read and can stop afterward since it gets worse from there. Does it make it better that he knows the book is uneven? How can I completely get behind this book when the author doesn’t even stand behind his own work! See? Annoying.) and there are some that are just annoying or boring (or both). Like the whole chapter where he had the audition for the Real World and he turns the audition into this really long interview (that never happened) where he just rambles on and on about his childhood and none of it matters. We don’t need to know that Mr. T lived in his hometown to understand him as a person. Yes, it’s an fun fact and if it were me, I might want to try to find a way to include it in my memoir as well, but at the same time, it’s completely pointless for anyone else other than the author to know about. But that’s why it seems like a blog to me, because that’s the kind of stuff someone would write in their blog.

The thing that saved this book for me (and I think is the basis of whether you love or loathe it) is that I actually did care about him (even if his behavior annoyed me sometimes). Plus I could empathize with his situation. My life has certainly not been as bad as his, but I know what it feels like to lose a parent and all the crap that comes with that. I understood a lot of the feelings he had about life in general and will admit that I am just as neurotic and self indulgent as he is (and he’s really neurotic and self-indulgent). Since I was invested, I kept reading through all the boring/annoying parts. If I wasn’t invested, though, there’s no way I could have gotten through this thing.

Also, the ending? With the teen angst and rage crap? A little overdone and I don’t think it really gelled with much of the rest of the book. I liked the inter-cutting of stories in the last chapter all the way up until that point, though. But again, it adds to the “bloginess” of it all, because it’s very much something someone in his situation would write if he was having a bad day (Fuck you all!).  Not really the best way to end the book, though.

Reading back over this, it feels like I’m saying I didn’t like this book. That’s not really the case. I think as a whole it’s a good book. And it’s not all dead parents and orphans either. Yes, there are sad parts but he’s a funny writer and is able to put things in perspective and not be all sentimental or cloying about his situation. That’s definitely another saving grace of this book.

Would I recommend this book to others? Yes. But I might tell them to check it out from the library instead of buying. If you love reading blogs and memoirs, though, you will probably like this book. If you are more of a straight up fiction kind of person, you may hate it, but you should definitely give it a try, even if you only read the (superior) first four chapters.