Chain Reading

For fans of Eggers, this is a must. Others might be put off by his lengthy tongue-in-cheek introduction, including descriptions of segments that could be omitted for the sake of time, a guide to symbols, and other things of this nature. For someone looking for an introduction to Eggers, this book might not be the best; I'd suggest "How We Are Hungry".

I, however, am a dedicated fan, and I love it. It's funny, intelligent, poignant, self-referential, self-deprecating... Beyond that, it's hard for me to articulate why I like it so much, but I do (such is the stuff of terrible reviews--my apologies).

Readers of this book are going to know immediately whether they will like this book or not - from the first page (which, among other things, admonishes the reader that, really, the first four chapters are the only ones worth reading), Eggers eccentric style is evident.

The story, or what can be loosely regarded as a story, revolves around Dave's coping with the sudden death of his two parents and his adventures in caring for his younger brother, Toph. From Berkeley to San Francisco, Chicago, and beyond, Eggers' deployment of his rantish/ravish writing style is certainly markedly different than most are used to (as is his writing style - about a third of the way through, he switches to screenplay format in order to tell the story of his being the only non-parent at Toph's parent-teacher conferences).

Dave is eccentric, wild, and thoroughly uncontrolled, but his nonchalant, wacky view of life presents a style of humor that is immediately likable and worthwhile. Never before have I seen a melodramatic expose revealed in such a funny or endearing format.

I've been reading this book for about three months now and I just can't bring myself to finish it (and I only have 17 pages left). This is the first book I've read by Dave Eggers, and I've been told not to judge his other works based on this memoir. Memoirs can be tricky beasts after all.

In the beginning I really enjoyed this book. Eggers actually did have an interesting life and he tells his story in stream-of-consciousness (sp?), which I found to be really interesting...at first. It was the first time I've read a book written in this style and I found it to be witty. I could actually see myself thinking the same kinds of things he was thinking as he went through different situations.

But then, as the book goes on, the whole stream-of-consciousness thing becomes really cumbersome. It blocks the flow of the story. It BORED me to tears. I started skipping pages halfway through because I felt like I'd already read most of what he was saying. My eyes glazed over and all I wanted to do was burn this book or throw it out the window. Anything to be finished with it.

I don't know if I can count it as a book I've read, considering I never actually finished it. But I think having read 421 pages should count, don't you?

Needless to say, I found this book highly disappointing. You can read its synopsis on Wikipedia and get about the same amount of information there.