A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius ****1/2
By Dave Eggers
Dave Eggers' memoir about his parents' deaths--they both died of cancer within six weeks of each other when he was 21--and his assuming guardianship of his 7-year-old brother is hilarious, touching and gives me hope for Our Young People Today.
Eggers' parents were a bit of a mess--a drunken and unpredictable father, an often angry and frustrated mother--and he and his two older siblings make a touching agreement that they will give their little brother, Toph, a better childhood.
Easier said than done.
Eggers pitilessly describes his shortcomings as a guardian--he can't cook, doesn't have a great job, is late all the time, goes to Toph's school open-houses hoping to score with single moms, and selects apartments based on how far he and Toph can slide across the wooden floors in their stocking feet.
In short, Eggers is still a boy himself, trying to launch a brilliant magazine writing career with all the bravado overbalanced by lack of discipline and experience common to 20-somethings. But Eggers is also fighting off fears of sudden death and the kind of horrific fantasies any parent has when they leave their kid with a new babysitter.
The book goes on at times--Eggers is a master at stream-of-consciousness, and he has a hard time knowing when to turn it off. But there is not a false note in this book, not one. It is exuberant but measured. You never hear fanfares at the triumphs, strings when the going gets tough, or twiddling flutes at the light-hearted moments.
At heart, this is a book about a man who loves his brother enough to let that love turn him into a better man.
And that's exactly the kind of schlocky thing Eggers and Toph would expect a 50-something female reader to think
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