Synopses & Reviews
The Wild Things — based loosely on the storybook by Maurice Sendak and the screenplay cowritten with Spike Jonze — is about the confusions of a boy, Max, making his way in a world he can't control.
His father is gone, his mother is spending time with a younger boyfriend, his sister is becoming a teenager and no longer has interest in him. At the same time, Max finds himself capable of startling acts of wildness: he wears a wolf suit, bites his mom, and can't always control his outbursts. During a fight at home, Max flees and runs away into the woods. He finds a boat there, jumps in, and ends up on the open sea, destination unknown. He lands on the island of the Wild Things, and soon he becomes their king. But things get complicated when Max realizes that the Wild Things want as much from him as he wants from them.
Funny, dark, and alive, The Wild Things is a timeless and time-tested tale for all ages.
Review
"Eggers has written a book for readers of all ages, without dumbing down his prose. But his highest achievement is in having found a fresh way to tell us a story we already know so well, about the monstrous forces of love and hate that mark every childhood — and pursue us howling into adulthood." Steve Almond, The Boston Globe
Review
"Seeing how the beasts echo Max's inner turmoil is perhaps the cleverest aspect of The Wild Things....As he showed in A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and What Is the What, Eggers is brilliant at portraying the exuberance and chaos of a young boy's heart and mind." San Francisco Chronicle
Review
"All in all, Dave Eggers's The Wild Things is intermittently amusing but far more conventional than it should be. Eight- to 12-year-olds will like the book, but older readers — those 'children of all ages' — won't be starting a wild rumpus over it." The Washington Post
Review
"[S]sometimes weird, sometimes dark, and full of wonder....Like the original, this is far from the cosy world kids are often fed, but it has real heart — Eggers uses simple but superbly effective prose to suggest that childhood has to be lived without cosseting for us to grow up with any semblance of a normal personality." The Independent (U.K.)
Review
"[N]ot only a wonderful read, but a lovely product....From the cover illustrations by Rachel Sumpter to the quality paper and printing, to the informative postscript by the author/publisher, this does Sendak's original picture book proud." Montreal Gazette
Synopsis
The Wild Things — based loosely on the storybook by Maurice Sendak and the screenplay co-written with Spike Jonze — is about the confusions of a boy, Max, making his way in a world he can't control.
About the Author
Dave Eggers is the author of such bestselling works as A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (a Pulitzer Prize finalist), You Shall Know Our Velocity, and What Is the What. He is the founder of McSweeney's, an independent publishing house, and currently teaches writing in San Francisco at 826 Valencia, a nonprofit tutoring center and writing school for children that he cofounded with his wife, the novelist Vendela Vida.