Book Review: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

* Name: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
* Author: Dave Eggers
* Year Published: 2000
* ISBN: 0-375-72578-4
* Details: Paperback, 437 pages
* Awards/Recognitions: Pulitzer Prize Finalist, LA Times Best Book of the Year, Washington Post Critics’ Favorite, San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year, USA Today Top Ten Best Book of the Year, Time Magazine Best Book of the Year
* BTL Recommends: No
* Key Locations: Lake Forrest, IL; San Francisco, CA
* Review: I wanted to like this book, I really did. I certainly loved the title, but choosing a book based on the title is like choosing your racehorse based on its name. They don’t always live up to expectations. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, while beautifully written and emotional, is written as stream of consciousness. Despite the many glowing reviews, I just don’t like stream of consciousness – ever. For example, Gabriel Garcia-Marquez is one of my favorite writers of all time, but I HATED The Autumn of the Patriarch. So it is hard for me to really evaluate any book of this style. Usually if you see the Pulitzer Prize seal and a mention of the NY Times, I’m going to love the book. But not this time. So if you’re in to that type of thing, give it a shot. If you find sentences that are a paragraph long and constant rambling from the narrator annoying, skip this one.