A Staggering Work of Heartbreaking Genius - Essay Example

Although the book A Staggering Work of Heartbreaking Genius touches upon a lot of serious problems (such as death, misfortune and children that stay without parents), there are critics that do not agree to the fact that Dave Eggers’s writing belongs to creative nonfiction (Forche 109). It is not very difficult to find out if it is so through analyzing the peculiarities of genre and style applied by the writer in A Staggering Work of Heartbreaking Genius. It should be noted that the title of A Staggering Work of Heartbreaking Genius is catching and interesting for the reader.

It makes everyone think over its meaning and search for a certain signs that will help to explain why Dave Eggers has chosen this very title for his book. It is not very difficult to note that the title of the book ties into the book’s text. There are two arguments that can help to prove this point of view. The first one is the complexity of the situation described by the author. The protagonist (Toph) loses both mother and father because of illness. Dave is trying to represent two parents in one face for this child.

It is practically impossible. One must be a real genius to do this. Dave’s attempts to bring up Toph are frequently heartbreaking. It is difficult for him to play the role of the child’s late parents. . It is not better than the previous with his father and mother, but the catastrophe (that is death) helps Toph to look at the world from a quite new point of view. As for me, it is very difficult for unsophisticated reader to understand the meaning of the title, especially its symbolic nature.

Everything becomes clear only when the reader takes a deeper look into Toph and Eggers’s souls and conduct. In any case, the title chosen by the author of A Staggering Work of Heartbreaking Genius fully coincides with the context of the whole writing (128). Although it may seem unclear at a glance, it is impossible to create more relevant title for this splendid writing. It is not very difficult to figure out the genre of the book. It is sure to be memoir that belongs to creative nonfiction.

A Staggering Work of Heartbreaking Genius gives the information about Toph and Dave’s life after the death of Toph’s parents. The book has many extracts where the author portrays magazine’s history. It was created by Dave and his friends. The extracts with the data about magazine may be considered to be unnecessary in the book, but they are also the sign that the writing belongs to creative nonfiction. A Staggering Work of Heartbreaking Genius consists of four hundred sixteen pages. This volume is normal for short biography.

Nevertheless, there are critics that are sure that Dave omitted a lot of important details about the protagonist in his book. According to their point of view it would be better to shorten a number of information about the magazine and write more about Toph’s character, feelings and emotional experience. However, it is known that every reader expects something special to read after seeing the title of