David Eggers emerges in this loosely autobiographical work as a force to be reckoned with. Rarely is a book as genuinely moving, while managing to be funny. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggaring Genius is the story of a young man (Eggers), who is forced to raise his younger brother with the passing of their mother. What results is a beautifully written account of the sorrows and joys that accompany him while he is thrust into adulthood. An absolutely marvelous read.

It caught my attention in the beginning..but very quickly it was gone. Too much rambling on, and on, and on.. for a smooth and interesting read.

To act like Eggers a moment I am going to toss around some vocabulary: This book is an exercise in glib solipsism, an ambuscade of poseurism, with a dash of audience participation. Here's a quote as an example, "The self-canonization disguised as self-destruction masquerading as self-aggrandizement disguised as self-flagellation as highest art form of all aspect." However, despite the hard work I had to invest to get into the meat of the book, it was still a pretty good time.

As someone who absolutely loves memoirs, I was very excited to read this book. The description sounded intriguing, and I had been told by quite a few people that it was a great read.

It started off well ... the description of the author's life with his mother was so incredibly honest ... truly heartbreaking. Unfortunately, the story deteriorated rapidly from there. I felt very detached from what was being described. I found myself disliking Dave immensely ... I really didn't care about what happened to him. He spent pages describing the most pointless details of his life ... at times I was almost bored to tears.

Dave Eggers is a lot of things ... but a genius he is NOT.

This book is one of the most boring books I have ever read!!!!! I read through it as quickly as I could (skipping many pages). I would not recommend this book unless you have nothing else to do with your time!!!

Not a complete waste ot time, but close to it. Sped read through the last 200 pages. Eggers' protagonist should get overhimself and move on.

A headlong rush of stream of thought that is compelling, contemporary and touching. Charming and exhausting at times, I enjoyed the ride.

I found myself having trouble reading this book. It's not that I didn't want to, or that it's not written well... It's utterly exhausting.

Dave Eggers writes it as if he were doing it in a rush... Like someone speaking so quickly you can almost see the words tumbling out of their mouth. When I read it, I find myself picking up that same pace. After about 20 pages, I'm tired of reading so quickly... and so much. Within a single paragraph, he crams a dozen or more ideas... and that paragraph can span more than a page.

I liked it, despite not being born of his generation or having experienced San Francisco in any way. I've never even seen more than one or 2 episodes of Real World - although coincidentally enough, it was the season with Puck and Judd - but I keep reading. And the more I read, the more I'm torn between feeling utterly sorry for him, and agreeing wholeheartedly. He writes about random moments and anecdotes that I find myself saying "No kidding! I didn't think anyone else thought stuff like that."

It is indeed heartbreaking... and too often have I had to stop reading in order to gain a breath of fresh air.

I read You Shall Know our Velocity a couple of years ago, based on a recommendation from my brother. I could not, for the life of me, understand what he saw in that book. For some reason, I hung onto my copy.

This past year I picked up Heartbreaking Work out of interest, as I love biographies and memoires. The book itself is a good read. You may wonder how a young man would have full memoires already, but indeed Eggers tells his story with humour and in a way that evokes empathy and new found respect for the author.

I then went back and re-read You Shall Know our Velocity, and I loved it. Heartbreaking really set the stage for the others, and I have since found Eggers to be one of my favourite, most reliably high-quality, writers.

I find myself having trouble reading this book. It's not that I don't want to, or that it's not written well... It's utterly exhausting.

Dave Eggers writes it as if he were doing it in a rush... Like someone speaking so quickly you can almost see the words tumbling out of their mouth. When I read it, I find myself picking up that same pace. After about 20 pages, I'm tired of reading so quickly... and so much. Within a single paragraph, he crams a dozen or more ideas... and that paragraph can span more than a page.

I'm liking it, despite not being born of his generation or having experienced San Francisco in any way. I've never even seen more than one or 2 episodes of Real World - although coincidentally enough, it was the season with Puck and Judd - but I keep reading. And the more I read, the more I'm torn between feeling utterly sorry for him, and agreeing wholeheartedly. He writes about random moments and anecdotes that I find myself saying "No kidding! I didn't think anyone else thought stuff like that."

It is heartbreaking... and too often have I had to stop reading in order to gain a breath of fresh air.

This is one of the most inspiring books I have ever read. A true story about a nine year old boy, Toph, whose parents have just recently passed away from cancer. Toph's older brother Chris, is now the legal guardian. Chris does everything in his power to make sure Toph has a normal life. They sell the house and get a small apartment in the city. With the money left over, they pay for Toph's education at a private school. As Toph grows up, he becomes well adjusted to his surroundings.

He's hilarious. Some of the choices he makes are so outrageous that you have to laugh. This is a family favorite - a must read.

Wow. I read this book in two nights, I couldn't put it down... it's fantastic... I think I need to read it two or three more times just to try and get as much of it as I can. Awesome imagery and flawless narrative. Rates up there with Jean Dominique Bauby, Salinger (Eggers reminds me of Salinger in writing style), and Mark Haddon... so good.

Definitely the funniest book I've ever read - I laughed out loud way too much. Eggers writes how you'd think and it makes for a very entertaining read. His writing style is definitely what made the book. One interesting thing to note is that after most of my friends and I recommended the book to our friends and relatives - as you do with such a work of staggering genius - we found a distinctly different take between parents and non-parents. I'm not sure why, but if you're a parent you might not enjoy this one as much.

I read this book back 5 years ago, and it is truly the best book I have ever read. I tell everyone to read this work of art. Dave Eggers is extremely talented. His writing is fast, smooth and easy to follow but also brilliant.Everyone that enjoys a good novel should experience the refreshing writing style of Dave Eggers.

Wonderfull! Laugh outloud funny. Engaging. Unique style and perspective. I seldom have time to pick up a book but a friend lent it to me and it stays with me. Had to purchase my own copy for a second read.

I was immediately drawn to this book by its unique writing style and this was enough to keep me interested for the first few hundred pages. However, subsequently this novel became a tragic, sad, depressing novel that went no where fast and then had the nerve to end abruptly, affording no closure whatsoever. I am hesitant to recommend this book at all, as while the raw and emotive writing style is original, the novel itself is replete with self-loathing and lacking in event.

I'm generally a pretty jaded reader, but this book will stay with me always. It does an amazing job of breaking down pretensions and barriers to connect with the reader on the rawest level. Wonderful.

I'm glad to see that I wasn't the only one who thought this book was just a bunch of non-interesting ramblings, and an expensive waste (poor trees). I hesitate to give it a rating as high as a 1.

I'm not much of a reader but I couldn't put this book down. Extremely well written and laugh outloud funny. A definite must read. It's filled with goodness.