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Interviews | October 6, 2009

Jill Owens: IMG The Powells.com Interview with Margaret Atwood



margaretatwoodIn her 2003 novel Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood describes a future after humanity had been almost entirely wiped out by a plague. Jimmy, aka Snowman, lives... Continue »
  1. $18.86 Sale Hardcover add to wish list

    The Year of the Flood

    Margaret Atwood

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

by Dave Eggers

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius Cover

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

The literary sensation of the year, a book that redefines both family and narrative for the twenty-first century. 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 eight-year-old brother. 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.

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius is an instant classic that will be read in paperback for decades to come. The Vintage edition includes a new appendix by the author.

Review:

"A virtuosic piece of writing, a big, daring, manic-depressive stew of a book that noisily announces the debut of a talented — yes, staggeringly talented — new writer." Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

Review:

"Eggers evokes the terrible beauty of youth like a young Bob Dylan, frothing with furious anger—. A comic and moving witness that transcends and transgresses formal boundaries." Washington Post

Review:

"Eggers unfailingly captures the reader with gorgeous conviction." Lynn Crosbie, The Toronto Star

Review:

"Eggers crafts something universal here, something raw and real and wonderful that transcends any zeitgeist and manages to deal trenchantly with 'big issues' that often prove too daunting for younger writers: mortality, youth, the artifice of writing, the Zen of Frisbee. This is laugh-out-loud funny and utterly unforgettable." San Francisco Chronicle

Review:

"A brave work, and not a little heartbreaking." National Post

Review:

"Scathingly perceptive and hysterically funny.... Eggers reveals a true, and truly broken, heart." People

About the Author

Dave Eggers is the author of four books, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, You Shall Know Our Velocity!, How We Are Hungry, and What Is the What. He is the editor of McSweeney’s, a quarterly magazine and book-publishing company, and is cofounder of 826 Valencia, a network of nonprofit writing and tutoring centers for young people. His interest in oral history led to his 2004 cofounding of Voice of Witness, a nonprofit series of books that use oral history to illuminate human rights crises around the world. As a journalist, his work has appeared in The New Yorker, Esquire, and The Believer. He lives in the San Francisco Bay area with his wife and daughter.

What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 2 comments:
Daniel_D, November 22, 2006 (view all comments by Daniel_D)
Eggers not only writes his story while maintaining the master narrative, he also writes down his thoughts, their patterns and cycles that seem somewhat oddly familar. His combination of honesty, humour and insecurities make this book a compelling read and yet at the same time he somehow manages to raise more questions than awnsers!

Think Ikea flat packaged ready to assemble furniture with a couple of extra screws thrown in for good measure! Yet unlike Ikea flat packaged ready to assemble furniture - this book comes with an instruction manaul that makes logical sense without the need for domestic unrest!

The title makes a statement, 12 simple words in two phrases on the inside of the front cover that sum the book up perfectly. If you get a chance, take a look - those extra screws that you thought were deliberately thrown in for good measure or agnst, they serve a purpose after all!

Do yourself a favour:

If you have read it - Read it again!

If you haven't read it - Beg, Borrow or Buy a copy - just read it!
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(24 of 56 readers found this comment helpful)
Tammy, August 21, 2006 (view all comments by Tammy)
Great book! In my opinion a "must read".
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(18 of 38 readers found this comment helpful)
View all 2 comments

Product Details

ISBN:
9780375725784
Author:
Eggers, Dave
Publisher:
Vintage Books USA
Location:
New York
Subject:
United States - 20th Century
Subject:
Death
Subject:
Brothers
Subject:
Journalists
Subject:
Family/Interpersonal Memoir
Subject:
Parents
Subject:
Personal Memoirs
Subject:
Editors, Journalists, Publishers
Subject:
Parents -- Death -- Psychological aspects.
Copyright:
Series Volume:
2
Publication Date:
February 2001
Binding:
Paperback
Language:
English
Pages:
496
Dimensions:
7.92x5.30x1.07 in. .91 lbs.

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