A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

By: Dave Eggers

Narrated by: Dion Graham

Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

Dave Eggers scored a worldwide phenomenon with this memoir that topped national best-seller lists and has since become a staple for summer reading and book clubs. A compelling voice for Generation X, Eggers hererecounts his early 20s, caring for his younger brother after their parents’ unexpected deaths and his endeavors in a variety of media.

©2000 David K. Eggers (P)2010 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

“Not just for the MTV-fan age group, this is a very entertaining, well-written book.” ( Booklist)

Unique

I’d like to think the author helped to select the narrator of this book. Pitch perfect to the material . Love this book! Read The Circle first snd loved that too. Guess I’m an Eggers fan. Thanks for the giggles and insights. I’ll read this one again and look for what else you have on offer. I’m glad you are young. You have time for more wonders to create. Get on with it!

Kinetic and Exhausting with Phenominaal Narration

Any additional comments?

This book is like one long run on sentence. It's all stream of consciousness, which is exciting at first, then tiring, then revelatory. I found the last 2/3 to be a bit of a slog, but overall it was worth the listen. I must say, Dion Graham's narration is spectacular, reminding me at times of slam poet. Great match of narrator and subject matter.

Audiobook narrator is too exaggerated

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The main reason I want to review this book is the narrator of the audio. This guy completely takes away from the story by being overly expressive. I can see how this could be preferred, and I just noticed a review that praised him, but I am so annoyed by his expressions and exaggerations in this fairly life-like dramatic book. It's a literary piece, not a comedy show. I want some ability to imagine expressions and the dynamic. It feels really fast paced this way, and completely different from what I would imagine with a more traditional audio narrative. It's just not an enjoyable audio. Book is great otherwise. Just get it in a different format, if you can.

Any additional comments?

Great book, but this is to express frustrations with the narrator. Completely took away all the beauty that was in it and turned it into an entertainment piece, which is not what I wanted from a novel, especially not a novel with this theme. I have Netflix for that.

Staggering book, staggering performance

GOATed book, GOATed narrator! Brilliant book by a tremendous writer nuff said said said said said said said

Heartbreaking Indeed

While the writer's sneering representation of Gen-X values and his obvious self-loathing make this book a difficult experience, they're also what set this memoir apart from autobiographical works of self-congratulation. Observing the author's furious, paranoid grasping for solid ground broke my heart, both for the narrator, laboring under a responsibility he's unprepared for, and for his brother, whose childhood is marked by loss and instability. The book made me remember what being 20-something was like. The reader's impassioned delivery is exactly what the author's voice called for.

Brilliant

This is my second book by this author and I loved both. So assured of his talent, I have already purchased two more. I'm also glad he chose Dion to narrate as he is a favorite of mine. This incredible story is all the more astounding in that it is true. Thanks, Dave, for being a fine human being.!

Bridge Between Stream of Consciousness & PoMo Lit

You can't write a book like this without JD Salinger. You also can't get the genius of George Saunders without this work. So as a bridge connecting Tenth of December to The Catcher in the Rye, I am very grateful for its existence. As for its own merit, it was honest and rambly and self-pitying and desperate and depressing and irritating -- with what ended up to be very little heart. Or at least it didn't translate into heart for me. Being disgruntled with life and the lemon-throwing machine it can be only transcends it if the characters can overcome and grow from how they handle the challenges.

Hard to listen to, gave me anxiety

Continued waiting for some character development to happen in this book, but it never came. Disappointed after listening to the whole story.

Toxic. Nauseating. Absolutely amazing.

An incredible work of staggering self-centerdness by a genius who knows it. Not a joyful read. But a great one.

Stream of Consciousness Grieving

This is a personal memoir about a young man who has lost both his mother and his father to two different types of cancers in a very short period of time. The protagonist in his early twenties is then not only left an orphan but is also the caregiver of his much younger brother; he becomes his legal guardian. What makes this book unique is the way in which it is written. The author writes in a stream of consciousness style, all his thoughts laid bare, some heartbreaking, others hysterically funny, some bewilderingly insane, some completely truthful but who would write them down! These are universal thoughts that we have all had, at least once but have never ventured to say them out loud. He can be crude, rude, ugly, beautiful, sad, lonely, mad, selfish, selfless. He admits to it all. I’ve never read/listened to anything like it. It describes how insane loss and grief can feel. He describes how out of control one can feel. You can feel his spiraling down and then his treading water, slowing building up again after so much devastating loss. I thought the narrator did an excellent job reading this run-on compilation of words, thoughts, sentences seemingly effortlessly. Did he breathe once during the entire reading?