If ever I come across a book That defies convention, my curiosity gets the better of me and I have to read it. The problem with this tendency Is that it leads me to Refer A lot of bad books did I refuse to finish. Not this time. Dave Eggers' debut memoir is staggering in its Style, innovations, and trials, and simply a lot of fun to read. For months I kept seeing this book eyeing me in bookstores, its corny cover displaying a red velvet drape opening across a Titian-like sky with the "egg" Part of the author's name floating over the rising (setting?) Sun. One day, I broke down and sent for it and began reading: (page before the title page) "This was uncalled for"; (Page before the Preface), "Rules and Suggestions for Reading this book: # 1 There is no overwhelming need to read the preface ... # 3 You can skip the Table of Contents ... # 6 The book thereafter is... uneven ... "And then I noticed something: Eggers has written every word - the flap blurbs, the copyright page - and all of it is innovative and entertaining. The table of contents reads like a modern poem, and the 21 page acknowledgment section Containing all kinds of slapsticky digressions and a key to the text's metaphors is hysterically funny. With all of the hype and Presence this book has inspired, one can not help but read it. Eggers tells the true story of his parents' deaths five months apart Which leaves Dave to raise his little brother Toph - the most intriguing character in the tome - and move to Berkeley, California. The best of the book is probably the truest stuff - the first few chapters worin he discusses his family's losses and the Beginning of the Berkeley section and incidental, everyday wonders like recipes he and Toph currency (: such as the Saucy Beefeater and The Mexican- American War), frisbee exploits, the teddy bear, the mother's lost ashes, nude photoshoots. In spite of his potential, he wanders away to his magazine exploits and some MTV goofiness and more, and it is here indeed the author's age starts to show-- Which is why we must forgive him his lousy handling of the rest of his book. Hey! The guy is only in his twenties and he wrote and published a book full of really innovative literary tricks and flights of imagination. Even though, as the author admits in the beginning, the book just peters out toward the last third, Eggers Seems Bound for Glory, so original, and so wise, really, for seeking a self-effacing clown. His heart is full of love, and he just can not hide it. That, in addition to his wit, make (almost) this (Entire) book worth your while.
