Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
I had put off reading from Eggers' body of work for years, having been put off by all the claims of how impressive and prolific a writer he was. Turns out my apprehension at the seemingly pretentious nature of his fans was well founded. Many of these stories have decent bones; that is to say, an interesting or even grotesque premise, characters, or point of conflict. Unfortunately they all somehow end up falling victim to this underlying preconceived vibe of greatness, and can't follow through as a whole.
Book gets 4 stars from me; the story "Up the Mountain Coming Down Slowly" gets 5. Stunning- an absolutely beautifully written story.
Now that I've read this, it's no wonder why no one could explain Eggers' writing style to me beforehand. It's like a floating, earthbound, disembodied bipolar disorder decided to write a journal of its history of possessing one mortal after another. I'll most likely read more Eggers.
Eh, Eggers is one of my favorite authors and while some of the stories are enjoyable, I don't think it's his best work. I enjoy his short-short fiction much more than his longer short stories in this book.
For me the short stories were kind of hit or miss, some I thoroughly enjoyed, others I could have been without, I don't really know how else to review this book
Not a huge Eggers fan but I did like one or two of the stories, especially the last two. I agree with a previous reviewer who felt the stories felt like outlines for a novels.
Probably the best collection of short fiction I've read all year. I'll definitely read more Eggers.