A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius - B-

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius?
A Staggering Work of Heartbreaking Genius?
An Exaggerated Work of Heartbreaking Genius?

Wait!?  How did "exaggerated" sneak in there?

I've had great difficulty remembering the title of this book.  I don't know why.  More problematic for me is the fact that I keep wanting to insert "exaggerated" into the title.  More on that later.

Because the title is so unwieldy, I'm going to refer to this book simply as "The Work" (by Dave Eggers) in this post.  Recall that Dave Eggers' Zeitoun made its way onto my best books read during 2009 list.

The Work tells the true story (the author explains that some of the names and details have been altered for the purpose of telling the story and protecting the identities of certain ancillary characters) of the Eggers family, particulary Dave and Toph (Christopher).  Dave and Toph have two other older siblings, Bill and Beth.  Their parents both died of cancer within five weeks of one another when Toph was 8, Dave in his early 20s, Beth in her mid-20s and Bill in his late 20s.  Beth was finishing up law school at the time, and Bill was out in the real world working.

Primary caretaking for Toph fell to Dave.  How would you balance being the "parent" of an 8 year old at about 23 years old while trying to grow up yourself and provide your 8 year old "son" with a semi-normal life?  Including a semi-normal relationship with you, your "son's" brother?

This is the story that Dave Eggers tells in The Work.

Back to "exaggerated."  I don't know how that word kept making its way into the mix when I was trying to remember the title of the book.  Especially because one of the last words I would use to describe this book is "exaggerated."  The work comes off as extremely honest.  Dave criticizes himself more than he does anyone else.  Dave describes his own flaws and foibles more than anyone else's.

The book's honesty, though, worked against it a bit for me, purely as a matter of taste.

I didn't love The Work.  I liked it, and I appreciated what Eggers did and how he did it (The Work has shown up on lists of the books of the decade).  I think that I would have appreciated the book much more had I been unsettled and in my 20s, able to identify directly with one of the older siblings.

In other words, I am not suggesting that any of you run out and read The Work.  If you've heard about it and/or think that you can better identify with the story and personalities, you won't be disappointed.

Live long, read and prosper.  We'll leave the light on for you.