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February 08, 2007
January Reading: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Categories: Words
Dave Eggers was on my radar for quite some time. I remember when the book came out; I had it in my hands as honeymoon reading but chose Chabon's Kavalier and Clay instead. I picked up occasional copies of The Believer. I would visit McSweeny's webiste and was thrilled by the Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales. Yet I stayed away from the book that, in some ways, kicked off this new genre (is it a genre? a movement? just a bunch of authors who were in their 20's and wrote stuff that seemed all in the same ballpark?). I stayed away for one reason -- everything I had heard about Eggers indicated he was a huge prick.
I hate pretentiousness. I thought Eggers was pretentious. Look at the damn title of the work. Look at all the little attempts to be "clever" -- the drawing of the stapler, the list of symbols used in the book. I didn't need this book. I needed story and seriousness, or at least an honest lack of seriousness, not someone who thinks they are smarter than everyone else.
Dave Eggers may be a prick. He may even be pretentious. But AHWOSG is really, really good.
What makes the book for me is Eggers' obvious concern about, well, being pretentious. Memoirs may be the ultimate expression of cannabalistic narcissim. You eat your life -- your friends, your family, your own experiences -- in order to tell the story of yourself. Everyone you have ever met becomes a character in YOUR story, even though all those people have stories of their own. One thing I liked about AHWOSG is Eggers awareness of this very fact and the way he presents that awareness. Characters in the book -- who are "real people" -- suddenly break character to give voice to Eggers' doubts about his project. At first it's subtle, but once you realize it's no longer Toph talking but Eggers using Toph to voice his own reflexive doubt, it becomes an integral part of the work. Not only does the technique make the reader aware that Eggers has these doubts about his own project, but it makes us aware that Toph, Beth, and everyone else in the book are characters who are made up and controlled by an author, even though they are also actual human beings with stories of their own.
Oh, and all the stuff about throwing the frisbee was really nice, too.
I liked Eggers awareness of the innate ridiculousness of what he's trying to do, but doing it anyway. That's a type of courage that's inspiring to a writer.
January Books Bought: A Heatbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, 100 Bullets Volume 2: Split Second Chance, Batman: The Long Halloween, Sandman Volume 1: Preludes and Nocturnes
January Books Read: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Posted by Nakia at February 8, 2007 11:35 AM