Dave Eggers, author of “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius,” understood that such an ambitious title was applicable for his first published book.
Eggers recants his past in this modern autobiography that effectively uses comedy to mix with the tragedy Eggers faced in his life.
Abbreviated “A.H.W.O.S.G.,” the book could possibly be the first literally read cover to cover, including the publication pages. Eggers entertains the reader with about 40 pages of satirical humor, which includes his “Rules and Suggestions for Enjoyment of This Book.”
Once started, the tale begins heavily with the death of Eggers’ parents to cancer. Eggers, at the age of 21, is consequently left to raise his 7-year-old brother Christopher, nicknamed Toph.
Basically, Egger’s story is of a child raising a child — a theme all too familiar in today’s society. However, he shows this story from the perspective of a child abruptly forced to grow up.
Eggers’ creativity as a writer retains the reader’s attention by using various postmodern techniques, such as shifting his focus, as if the reader were uncontrollably venturing through Eggers’ mind.
On one page, the reader is learning about Eggers’ audition for the MTV reality show, “The Real World,” but on the next page, his brother Toph psychoanalyzes the book and its use of “gimmicks” to entertain untruthfully.
Some passages, Eggers admits, did not actually happen or he had to reword before publication.
“A.H.W.O.S.G.” is a hit-or-miss story appealing to a Gen-X crowd, understandably since Eggers was the founder of a now defunct Gen-X magazine, Might.
Eggers did not live the underprivileged life most expect, since the story is biographical. If a reader cannot sympathize with Eggers’ attempt to show how difficult it is to raise his brother at 21 when far more people experience a harder time, the reader will clearly be dissatisified.
Greater tragedies could have been written about, but the fact that he tells his story so profoundly caught the attention of the New York Times, who placed the book on its Best Seller List.
“A.H.W.O.S.G.” also won the Addison M. Metcalf Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and is currently being turned into a movie.
Eggers received $3 million for the film rights and donated a large portion of that profit to cancer charities in honor of his parents.
A+