Review of AHWOSG

Title of the Book: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius 
Author: Dave Eggers 
Number of Pages: 437  
Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Review: Every family has had to face their share of hardships, but none of them have been forced to endure as much as the Eggers. The Eggers consist of Heidi and John, the parents of Dave, Beth, Will, and the youngest, Toph. Heidi has been sick for quite some time with stomach cancer and it is only a matter of time as to when she will pass. However, before Heidi can say her goodbyes and rest, her husband John passes away from lung cancer just weeks before she does. This leaves Dave, Beth, and Toph on their own with so much changing in such a short amount of time. Dave and Beth are both in their early twenties while Toph is just seven years old. The book explores the way that Dave has to survive in his situation. Dave is forced to take charge and raise his little brother for his parents. It is the story of how Dave battles himself trying to believe that he is doing right by Toph but also trying to convince himself that he is corrupting him. Dave relies on his smarts to get him through it all, but he doubts himself. He knows he can’t quit because of his brother so he tries everything to make it work. Dave even auditioned for MTV’s “The Real World” at one point to help. This is how Dave raises his brother and deals with the world around him seeming to crumble more and more. He himself has to mature and find himself in order to not only survive but to thrive in his situation.

This book is so unique in so many ways because of the author. The author has his own amazing writing style that reels in the reader. One good thing that is apparent early is that Dave Eggers uses flashbacks often while writing, sometimes without warning. It is very entertaining and engaging to the reader and it often explains something in the scene prior or following. One example of this is when writing about Dave carrying his mother to the car to take her to the hospital for a bloody nose that won’t stop because her blood is too thin to clot. In the middle of this scene, with all of the great mental imagery and the sadness that comes with carrying his mother to the car because she can’t walk, we are taken to a new scene. It is the same home as always but now the only people are Beth and John, the father. Beth is watching John from the family room, she can see him kneeling over on the sidewalk in the driveway and clutching his chest, she knows something is wrong. Then we are immediately taken back to the scene where Heidi is being taken to the hospital. This happens many times throughout the book and it is very well used. It took one scene and made the impact of it even heavier when you were reminded that they had to deal with the same issue for their father just weeks earlier.

The tone and language the author uses are also incredibly polished. The overall tone of the book is a lingering depression but with a hint of determination. As I said, I often found myself saddened just from being immersed in the book at times. This is because of the imagery that comes from the language used. Dave Eggers uses beautiful vocabulary, as well as language that perfectly fits with each character. You could believe it is real dialogue. And the thoughts of Dave show the inner mind of a person very well. The whole story is very fluent and beautiful to read. However, when thinking about the book beyond reading I asked myself, “Why would they continue after all this? Normal people would give up.” However, Dave isn’t a normal person and that becomes apparent. The development of his character and his determination to keep going showed me that even though the overall tone is sorrow, there is hope in there because Dave refuses to quit. There are times of triumph and moments where you forget this book is entirely sad. This is because Dave matures and finds a way to keep going for Toph and for everyone around him. One very great example of this comes when Dave has to save his friend John. John had been acting weird and Meredith called Dave to check on him. Dave immediately noticed he was odd too and he checked the whole apartment. Once he became suspicious of him overdosing, he called the police and confronted John. He talked and tried to dig deep to found out why he was doing it. He stood with him the whole time and even tried to follow is the ambulance to the hospital. The whole time he didn’t care about John being mad at him or what other issues he had, he just wanted to help John and make sure he didn’t have to go through another loss.

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius is a beautiful book that I would recommend to anyone. To be specific, I recommend this book to anyone that wants to witness an amazing story of a man managing to hang on until the very end all for the sake of helping. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to go on an emotional and mental journey that keeps you wondering and thinking beyond the pages. I recommend this book to anyone who hasn’t read a book that has made a lasting impact on them. This is the type of book to open your eyes to the world. I don’t believe I have ever read a true 5/5 rating book so I’m hesitant to give this a 5, but this is the closest I have ever come to wanting to. I recommend this book to anyone willing to invest their time in reading an inspiring tale.