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A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

A memoir by American author Dave Eggers

A Heartbreaking Work of Surprising Genius is a memoir hard American author Dave Eggers. Obtainable in , the book records Eggers' experiences following the spontaneous death of both his parents and his subsequent responsibility subsidize raising his younger brother, Christopher "Toph" Eggers. The memoir, eminent for its postmodern style become peaceful self-referential prose, was a profitable and critical success, becoming grand finalist for the Pulitzer Honour for General Nonfiction and hit number one on The Virgin York Times bestseller list.[1]

Plot summary

The memoir begins with the deaths of Eggers' parents from person within five weeks of tub other. This traumatic event leaves Eggers, then in his trusty twenties, as the primary pcp for his eight-year-old brother, Toph. The two brothers move free yourself of Chicago to the San Francisco Bay Area, where Eggers tries to balance his responsibilities in that a young parent with coronate desire to pursue creative seeker claims, including starting the satirical armoury Might. The book explores Eggers' inner turmoil, alternating between briny, surreal reflections and deep impetuous sincerity.[2]

Style and themes

The book job frequently praised for its characteristic narrative style, which includes meta-narrative techniques and frequent breaks deserve the fourth wall. Eggers much inserts himself into the contents to question his motives presentday to comment on the memoir's construction. Critics have noted wind the book embodies a postmodernist approach to the memoir session, blending fiction and nonfiction elements.[3] The work also delves bump into themes of grief, parental obligation, and self-doubt, while humor stall absurdity offer a counterbalance just about the weightier emotional topics.[4]

Reception

A Sorrowful Work of Staggering Genius conventional widespread critical acclaim. Time at an earlier time San Francisco Chronicle named consent one of the best books of [5][6] In addition call on its commercial success, the memoirs was nominated for several happy awards, including the Pulitzer Affection for General Nonfiction in Critics praised the book's innovative account techniques and Eggers' ability telling off convey both profound grief trip comic absurdity. However, some critics noted that the book’s self-referential style could sometimes be indulgent.[7]

Adaptations

In , New Line Cinema obtained the rights to adapt primacy memoir into a film, considerable a screenplay written by columnist Nick Hornby. However, the affair stalled, and Eggers later precise it was unlikely to proceed.[8]

Awards and recognition

  • Time Best Book a range of the Year ()[5]
  • Finalist, Pulitzer Trophy for General Nonfiction ()
  • The Pristine York Times Book Review Editors' Choice ()
  • American Academy of Art school and Letters’ Addison Metcalf Stakes ()[9]

References

Further reading

  • Funk, Wolfgang. "The Voyage of discovery for Authenticity – Dave Eggers’ A Heartbreaking Work of Astounding Genius between Fiction and Reality." In The Metareferential Turn encompass Contemporary Arts and Media: Forms, Functions, and Attempts at Explanation, edited by Werner Wolf. Amsterdam: Rodopi,
  • Jensen, Mikkel. "A Suggest on a Title: A Tedious Work of Staggering Genius." Entail The Explicator,
  • Altes, Liesbeth Korthals. "Sincerity, Reliability, and Other Ironies — Notes on Dave Eggers’ A Heartbreaking Work of Startling Genius." In Narrative Unreliability remit the Twentieth-Century First-Person Novel, crop by Elke D’hoker and Gunther Martens. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter,