A heartbreaking work of staggering genius is usually classified as a memoir or autobiography, although it includes tangential fantasy scenes. Dave eggers s new book, a heartbreaking work of staggering genius, is part autobiography, part postmodern collage, a novelistic memoiry kind of thing that tells the sad, awful. 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. I had lunch recently with an editor from a london publishing house who had turned down the chance to publish dave eggerss a heartbreaking work of.
A heartbreaking work of staggering genius publishers weekly. A heartbreaking work of staggering genius audiobook. Rather, the mostly nonfictional a heartbreaking work of staggering genius is a postmodern memoir in the mold of laurence sternes fictional the life and opinions of tristram shandy, a metanarrative that turns in upon itself and tricks the reader almost every chance it gets. He is known for the bestselling memoir a heartbreaking work of staggering genius and for his subsequent work as a novelist and screenwriter. Books a heartbreaking work of staggering genius by dave eggers. A heartbreaking work of staggering genius dave eggers. As the work titles suggest, the reprint includes an additional piece, mistakes we knew we were making, thats not included. A heartbreaking work of staggering genius, with its unique style that attracts the attention of the reader from the very beginning is a good example of self reflexive fiction. Staggering genius is the moving memoir of a college senior who, in the space of five. A heartbreaking work of staggering genius is the moving memoir of a college senior who, in the space of five weeks, loses. Looking back at a heartbreaking work of staggering genius the.
A compelling voice for generation x, eggers here recounts his early 20s, caring for his younger brother after their parents unexpected deaths and his endeavors in a variety of media. A heartbreaking work of staggering genius is, finally, a book of finite jest, which is why it succeeds so brilliantly. If tophs momentary transformation is a device, it is a device drawn from. A heartbreaking work of staggering genius is finally, a finite book of jest, which is. Find books like a heartbreaking work of staggering genius from the worlds largest community of readers. A heartbreaking work of staggering genius by dave eggers. A heartbreaking work of staggering genius audiobook cd. Eggers is a twentysomething year old who not only has to find his own way in life, he is doing so while coming to terms with death and parenting his younger brother. Booktopia a heartbreaking work of staggering genius by. A heartbreaking work of staggering genius, the 2000 memoir by dave eggers, was recommended to me by a college student ive gotten to know at mcclains coffeehouse. A heartbreaking work of staggering genius the guardian.
Quotes from a heartbreaking work of staggering genius. A heartbreaking work of staggering genius isbn 0330484559 is a memoir by dave. A heartbreaking work of staggering genius audiobook, by dave eggers. The first edition of the novel was published in february 17th 2000, and was written by dave eggers. Naming his first book a heartbreaking work of staggering genius is an audacious move that puts an author in the unenviable position of having a lot to live up to. Eggers occasionally compresses time, making events in the book closer in time to one another than they actually were to enhance the flow of the story. Into it i can stuff the books i choose, the television shows, the movies, my opinions about elected officials, historical events, neighbors, passersby. A heartbreaking work of staggering genius may start off sounding like one of those coy, solipsistic exercises that put everything in little ironic quote marks, but it quickly becomes a virtuosic piece of writing, a big, daring, manicdepressive stew of book that noisily announces the debut of a talented yes, staggeringly talented new writer. He is my twentyfourhour classroom, my captive audience, forced to ingest everything i deem worthwhile. It isntbut its better than most novellike objects created by our younger writers, and like them, this one is directly autobiographical, ironic, and selfreferential, concluding with a tiny gesture of hope the author no doubt considers brave given the vicissitudes hes retailed in prose. Heartbreaking work staggering genius by dave eggers. A heartbreaking work of staggering genius paperback. Pdf a heartbreaking work of staggering genius book by.
The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 485 pages and is available in paperback format. In the five months since the us publication of his heartbreaking work. Quotes from a heartbreaking work of staggering genius dave eggers. The literary sensation of the year, a book that redefines both family and narrative for the twentyfirst century. Dave eggerss memoir is a keen mix of selfconsciousness and hope, of horror and hysteria and of freshness and wisdom. 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 eightyearold.
I cant get the game to work, says toph, who has appeared from the basement. Hed have to be to consider writing his memoirs at the tender age of 29. Please distinguish this dave eggers orignal published work, a heartbreaking work of staggering genius 2000, from its later reprint, a heartbreaking work of staggering genius and mistakes we knew we were making 2001. A heartbreaking work of staggering genius homework help questions.
Books a heartbreaking work of staggering genius by dave eggers a road trip to adulthood brilliant and infuriating, this dizzying memoir combines flamboyant verbal. Sometimes, to mix things upthere was much to criticize in our workhe would put it another way. He is also the founder of mcsweeneys, the cofounder of the literacy project 826 valencia, and the founder of scholarmatch, a program that matches donors with students. The questions, discussion topics, and author biography that follow are designed to enhance your groups reading and discussion of dave eggers a heartbreaking work of staggering genius. Bookbrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfictionbooks that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us. Looking back at a heartbreaking work of staggering genius. We hope that they will provide you with a variety of ways of thinking and talking about this extraordinary and unique book. Eggers selfreliant, transcendent, expansive is emersons ideal young american. A heartbreaking work of staggering genius is the topsoil of a tragedy, the first layers of earth pushed aside in a painful personal excavation, where the treasure seems to remain deeply buried. A heartbreaking work of staggering genius is a memoir by magazine editor dave eggers. A heartbreaking work of staggering genius is an instant classic that will be read in paperback for decades to come.
A heartbreaking work of staggering genius quotes by dave. A heartbreaking work of staggering genius wikipedia. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading a heartbreaking work of staggering genius. A heartbreaking work of staggering genius by dave eggers a. Ahwosg is truly ferocious, like any work of genius. A heartbreaking work of staggering genius by dave eggers about the book the literary sensation of the year, a book that redefines both family and narrative for the twentyfirst century. The novel is about eggers adoption of his significantly younger brother, christopher toph, after the deaths of both of their parents from cancer.
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 eightyearold brother. About a heartbreaking work of staggering genius this is a beautifully ragged, laughoutloud funny and utterly unforgettable book. Paperback edition 15% more staggering eggers has written 15,000 additional words for the vintage canada edition, including an entirely new appendix. Profoundly moving, occasionally angry and often hilarious.
A heartbreaking work of a staggering genius is about as pompously and as selfcentered as the title suggests. A heartbreaking work of staggering genius penguin random house. Books similar to a heartbreaking work of staggering genius. Free download or read online a heartbreaking work of staggering genius pdf epub book. A heartbreaking work of staggering genius by dave eggers a road trip to. A heartbreaking work of staggering genius is finally, a finite book of jest, which is why it succeeds so brilliantly. A heartbreaking work of staggering genius, a memoir by dave eggers 2000, was an immediate success both critically and commercially. A heartbreaking work of staggering genius is altogether a triumphant literary debut.
A heartbreaking work of staggering genius in the explicator. Self reflexive fiction, improving and changing from the time of tristram shandy has found a new life at the hands of dave eggers. The laughter begins to stick in our throats when eggers recounts the harrowing cancer death of his 51yearold mother. A site dedicated to book lovers providing a forum to discover and share commentary about the books and authors they enjoy.
Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Dave eggers memoir a heartbreaking work of staggering genius 2000. A book that redefines both family and narrative for the twentyfirst century. A memoir based on a true story kindle edition by eggers, dave. This sounds like the kind of thing you might find in a poem. A heartbreaking work of staggering genius is a 2000 nonfiction novel by dave eggers, the founder of mcsweeneys quarterly. Content includes books from bestselling, midlist and debut authors. A heartbreaking work of staggering genius quotes showing of 84 i like the dark part of the night, after midnight and before fourthirty, when its hollow, when ceilings are harder and farther away.
A heartbreaking work of staggering genius fairly bursts with moral authority, and it is the intense struggle to distinguish right from wrong that makes it far too oldfashioned a book to warrant any criticism involving compounds of meta other than metaphor. It reached the number one spot on the new york times best seller list and was nominated as a finalist for the pulitzer prize for general nonfiction. A memoir based on a true story by dave eggers and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Recorded books a heartbreaking work of staggering genius. Stephen moss assesses the critical reaction to dave eggerss a heartbreaking work of staggering genius buy it at bol wed 9 aug 2000 05. The book tells the story of how daves parents died of cancer within five weeks of each other and left dave and his siblings custody of their seven year old brother, toph. Eggers does have a captivating, hardshipdriven, linear store to tell. A heartbreaking work of staggering genius by by dave. The book was a commercial and critical success, reaching number one on the new york times bestseller list and being.
A heartbreaking work of staggering genius by dave eggers all. A heartbreaking work of staggering genius analysis. I spend my weekends there writing and wasting time on social media while this guy is studying french or wasting time playing poker. What is dave thinking when he throws his mothers ashes in the lake in a heartbreaking work of. Book cover for a heartbreaking work of staggering genius book. Complete summary of dave eggers a heartbreaking work of staggering genius. San francisco chronicle national bestseller pulitzer prize finalist a book that redefines both family and narrative for the twentyfirst century. Dave eggers heartbreaking work of staggering genius has to be understood as a response to that frenzy of memoirs, the dawn of reality tv, and the eve of blogging and social networking. The material preceding the main text in this bookcalled front matter in the publishing businesshas been entirely taken over by the author, including the usually.
Here is an exhilarating debut that manages to be simultaneously. In 2000, michiko kakutani wrote in the times about eggerss first book, a heartbreaking work of staggering genius. It may seem arrogant to refer to ones first published book as a work of staggering genius, but in dave eggerss case, the truth is in the pages. A heartbreaking work of staggering geniusis the moving memoir of a college senior who, in the space of five.
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