A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (#2)

The 2nd book I read last year was Dave Eggers' What Is The What.  So when I was looking at my pile of "to be read" books for my 2nd book of this year... I figured, what the heck... why not go with Eggers again!?!

...and the book that put him on the literary map, his Pulitzer Prize nominated personal memoir... A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.  This is another one of those books that had been on my radar for a loooonnng time... but as often happens, I procrastinate so long that the author comes out with another book... and rather than read the book that originally garnered my attention, I read the "new" one... and if I like the "new" book, I typically get back to the "old" book.  So here we are!

One problem in holding off on a book, particularly a buzz-worthy one, is that the raised expectations... and that's even taking into consideration that the book is self-described/titled as "staggering genius."  Can we say "hype?"  While I usually keep my "research" on a book to a minimum before reading a book, I knew enough about this one to know that folks either loved or hated it.  Being my wishy-washy self, I'm somewhere in the middle... but leaning towards "like." 

It's not giving much away to tell you the impetus of the story is the death of Eggers' parents, both to cancer within six months of each other.  The first quarter of the book are those final months in their childhood, Chicago suburb home... the rest, a young 20-something Eggers and siblings moving to California to start life anew. 

However, before getting into any of this, there is a rather lengthy introduction/prologue.  Breaking down the "fourth wall," Eggers speaks directly to the reader about what they are about to read.  It's all a bit self-indulgent and very cool/hip.  How one feels about this part of the book is a pretty good indicator of how one will feel about the entire work.  I enjoyed it to an extent, but after a while it got a bit "whatever"/"okay, okay I get it." 

I compare it to those reality show contestants that let the audience "in" that they're lying... so when they do lie, what is normally an unacceptable behavior is kinda fun and acceptable.  In this prologue, Eggers lets us in on some of the jokes.  In a pre-Oprah/James Frey world, he fesses up to the use of creative license... gives a tongue-in-cheek explanation for the book's title... and is so bold to tell readers that beyond page 123 "the book thereafter is kind of uneven."  So when the book does lose its focus, can you really fault Eggers?

All in all, it's an entertaining read even though I did not find myself relating to/empathizing with that 20-something "I'm gonna rule the world" bravado.  Ultimately, all of Eggers literary trickery and "hip"-pery do seem to unveil themselves as a defense mechanisms of sorts in dealing with the death of his parents and coming of age/finding himself... a tad over-hyped, though one can hardly blame Eggers for that.

(I know this is a pretty popular book.  Just two years after the publication of the book, the family experienced yet another tragedy... mentioned quite briefly in the "Life" section of Eggers' Wikipedia entry.)

2008 1-2-3-4-5 Reading Challenge: + 469 Pages (Total: 818 pages - Finished: 1/14/2008)
140 (+97 change) pages ahead of pace.