A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Meet Monkey, my thirteen-year-old brother. His real name is Treyson (“third” “son”), but I didn’t like that name at the time. I channeled my inner preteen brat and renamed him Tanner, which I've called him ever since. A few years ago, I nicknamed him Monkey because he’s little and always hangs on bigger people like the aforementioned primate. When Monk has short hair he looks like this...
and when he has long hair and makes this face, he looks like Robert De Niro…
I’m 11.5 years older than him because he was an accident child, so our relationship is unique. When he came into the world, I was old enough to realize that being an ass-hat to your younger siblings is actually pretty wack. Also, I was young enough to be the cool older sister. I really like my brother. He’s arguably my favorite primate on the planet, but let me be clear: I do not want to raise him. I get to take him to movies, and stay up late with him, and break the rules. I don’t have to dole out punishments, make sure he gets to school on time, or question why he doesn’t eat his veggies. Dave Eggers, author of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius did not have that choice. At age 21, his family fell apart when both of his parents died within five weeks of each other. Dave was forced to become the primary caregiver for his youngest brother, Toph, who was eight at the time of his parent’s death. I don’t know about you guys, but at age 21 I was learning the art of a mixed drink, not the art of convincing little kids that brushing your teeth is important. Admittedly, I had to Google “what do eight-year-olds do” to finish the last part of the previous sentence. I didn’t find anything interesting, so I guess I’m going the eight-year-olds-probably-brush-their-teeth-or-at-least-they-should route.
Dave’s transition from playful older brother to roommate/father figure was as tumultuous as I expected. I didn't necessarily expect Dave’s gripping prose. He straddled the threshold of adulthood/responsibility and youth/recklessness, and he unhesitatingly lobotomizes himself for readers, allowing us to penetrate the depths of his struggles and confusion. He writes with a manic-depressive tone, excitedly portraying his predicament as an opportunity in one breath and dejectedly reflecting on the martyrdom of his twenties in another. On the one hand, he has “this amazing chance to right the wrongs of [his] own upbringing” (Eggers, 117). Toph’s “brain is [his] laboratory” where Dave can input his own life views and raise Toph in a way that specifically corrects the mistakes his own parents made (Eggers, 49). On the other hand, this duty leaves no margin for error. No pressure or anything. Dave is overwhelmed with guilt as he (semi-jokingly) questions whether his poor cooking/cleaning skills and his inability to show up anywhere on time will result in Toph growing up to be a mass murderer or pet torturer.
Dave’s life is worth reading in and of itself, but his ability to be terribly funny amidst his terrible tragedies makes it a best-seller. He’s a self-conscious smart ass who manages to even make the typically bland Copyrights page laugh-out-loud amusing. He combines Nick Flynn’s poetic insight in Another Bullshit Night in Suck City with Joseph Heller’s witty insight in Catch-22. Still, Dave's comedy does not shroud his brutal honesty. He talks about really sad stuff in really intimate ways.
When I originally picked up this book, I thought the title was merely goofy and dramatic. Eggers is both goofy and dramatic… but the story is truly heartbreaking and the writing is staggeringly genius. It resonated with me by reminding me of my dear relationship with my youngest brother (First pic: 2015, reasonably spaced eyebrows. Second pic: 2005, questionably spaced eyebrows).
I think it will resonate with you too, even if you don't have a little monkey brother, so I give this book 5 out of 5 flames.
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