I bet you think I call this “book corner” to summon images of cozy throw pillows and worn paperbacks and an aura of acceptance. But no. It’s because I literally write this column IN A CORNER. This one, to be exact:
Last night I finished Dave Eggers’ A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius . It’s Eggers first book, his memoir, but fiction in that, “in many cases, the author could not remember the exact words said by certain people, and exact descriptions of certain things, so had to fill in gaps as best he could.” Everyone I know read this book like 5 years ago. Whatever. The first book I read by Eggers was the short stories collected in What Is The What . The novel that really made the impression was You Shall Know Our Velocity —so much so that I immediately forced it upon my sister after reading it.
Eggers name is popping up all over the place because he penned the screenplay for Where The Wild Things Are , and everyone has been freaking out of the trailer all week.
Also precious: A lesser-talked about trailer for “Away We Go” a movie he and his wife wrote:
Ok, notes about this book
It’s kind of depressing. If you want to go to sleep and dream of puppies and sunshine, then perhaps this isn’t an appropriate before-bed page-turner.
Do you ever think you’re a little bit crazy for the way your mind shoots off onto tangents of wild imaginings and over-reactions? You’ll feel very at home in the author’s stop-start stream of consciousness.
It reads like fiction. There were so many times where I just forgot this was actually his life, until he would mention his name.
Eggers question: Have you read any of his books? Which do you like best?
Booky question: Do any of you have a kindle out there? How do you feel about it? I really like the instant gratification of it, but I really like underlining phrases and dog-earing pages in books. I suppose this is like the album versus mp3 format debate.
What are you reading right now? And would anyone like to make me a bookmark? I have a habit of using like, sbux receipts. How terribly uninspiring, right?
The unfortunate rumor spreading around the web is that Warner Bros is incredibly unhappy with Spike Jonze's adaptation of Where The Wild Things Are. So unhappy, in fact, that they want the entire film reshot. Do you think it's a good idea to trash the script and rewrite a whole new movie at this point?
Excuse my fanboy moment, but this was my favorite book as a kid. I was naturally excited to hear that Spike Jonze would be helming the directorial duties of the adapation of Where The Wild Things Are.
Spike Jonze says he'll combine live-action, puppetry, and computer animation to construct the world that Maurice Sendak created so wonderfully many years ago. And to see these creatures, in full form, brings me back to my childhood.
I have full faith that this film is going to top the Best Of lists of 2008. I can't wait.
3 months, 4 days I have a clock inside me, counting the minutes, the hours, the days since my father's death. how can it be that it's only been 3 months when it seems like it happened yesterday? there are moments when it feels like it happened years ago. why is it that I cry at night, when I'm all alone in the dark? why is it that I miss him most in the random moments?
if birth is the opposite of death - what is the opposite of life? does life have an opposite?
I'm hanging out with Dave Eggers right now.. by 'hang' I mean I'm reading his books. I don't know Eggers. if I did, my life would probably more entertaining. I read A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius back in 2000 when it was first published. it was, indeed, heartbreaking at times. I'm rereading it 7 years later, and finding it difficult. the subject matter is too close to home in some areas.
my mother told me last night "sometimes the best thing to do when your heart is breaking is to shatter it completely. it allows you to pick up what's left of your heart off the floor and move on with your life" I think there might be some truth in that.
someone I know says that Dave Eggers is our generation's Hemmingway. it might be true. I don't know.
at the beginning of AHWOSG, in the publication notes, there's this. it made me giggle..
NOTE: This is a work of fiction, only in that in many cases, the author could not remember the exact words said by certain people, and exact descriptions of certain things, so had to fill in gaps as best he could. Otherwise, all characters and incidents and dialogue are real, are not products of the author's imagination, because at the time of this writing, the author had no imagination whatsoever for those sorts of things, and could not conceive of MAKING UP a story or characters -- it felt like driving a car in a clown suit -- especially when there was so much to say about his own, true, sorry and inspirational story, the actual people that he has known, and of course the many twists and turns of his own thrilling and complex mind. Any resemblance to persons living or dead should be plainly apparent to them and those who know them, especially if the author has been kind enough to have provided their real names and, in some cases, their phone numbers. All events described herein actually happened, though on occasion the author has taken certain, very small, liberties with chronology, because that is his right as an American.
maybe I shouldn't be worrying about the re-read after all.
