How We Are Hungry
by Dave Eggers
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Read in January, 2006
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Read in March, 2008
Dave Eggers... Years ago, I read the short story "After I Was Thrown in the River and Before I Drowned" (which just so happens to be in this collection) in Nick Hornby's collection Speaking With the Angel and enjoyed it. It wasn't my favorite piece in the collection, but I enjoyed it. I had never heard of Dave Eggers at that point.
Shortly after that, I started hearing *a lot* about him. Friends were recommending him to me, I heard interviews on the radio, read reviews and many,...more
Shortly after that, I started hearing *a lot* about him. Friends were recommending him to me, I heard interviews on the radio, read reviews and many,...more
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There's no denying that Dave Eggers is influential, and has been one of the most watched writers since the turn of the century. With the influx of McSweeney's installments and a new book every couple years, the man does release a bevy of material. And really, he's worth reading even though the naysayer may scoff at the idea, citing the preposterousness of "hysterical realism," which is "characterized by chronic length, manic characters, frenzied action, and frequent digress...more
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recommends it for:
the living
This collection is more straight forward, simple, and 'literary' than Eggers' first two, which, no matter how intensely i intermittedly liked them, always seemed sort of flawed in their intent. Like 'You Shall Know...', he often writes here about the intersection of world politics & morality that happen in his young, naive, and occasionally selfish idealists. But this use of issues & 'hot topics' doesn't come off as gimmicky or opportunistic. The effect is that the stories are all the...more
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recommends it for:
People who just got out of prison.
Ah, another Dave Eggers book. I keep reading these and I might have to admit to liking his work. This is a book of short stories. Here is why this is a better book than A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius: because the stories he wrote, are short stories. Eggers can’t meander here and there, and up and down before getting to the point. He has to hit it and hit it quick. Like the words themselves are costing him money. Like a hooker, a prostitute, a woman of the night. He can’t t...more
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Read in February, 2008
I'm a sucker for the short story. I think that often it takes as much skill to be succint in writing as it does to write whole novels. So, of course, I enjoyed this book.
Favorite stories: "Notes for a Story of a Man who will not Die Alone," "Up the Mountain Coming Down Slowly," "After I was Thrown in the River and Before I Drowned." These are all slightly longer short stories, so they feel... more important? than some of the shorter (one or two page) stories,...more
Favorite stories: "Notes for a Story of a Man who will not Die Alone," "Up the Mountain Coming Down Slowly," "After I was Thrown in the River and Before I Drowned." These are all slightly longer short stories, so they feel... more important? than some of the shorter (one or two page) stories,...more
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Read in September, 2007
recommends it for:
People More Clever Than I
Why can't I get into Dave Eggers? I tried to read a Heartbreaking Work of yada yada yada (but only found that frisbee scene with his little brother satisfying), tried to be amused by McSweeney's-related things, tried to listen to critiques who deem him a master craftsmen and the voice of a generation, but I just think that he doesn't deliver. I do like his titles, and don't knock them as pretentious. How We Are Hungry is entertaining too in the same way that New Yorker fiction is entertaining...more
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Read in July, 2007
This is a zany, offbeat, at times darkly comedic collection of short stories in true Dave Eggers' style. By which I mean, stories with non sequiturs (animals make appearances and are not seen again), lots of random segues, magic realism -- clouds that banter, moon that accuses, etc. There's a story that's just a collection of notes for a short story to come (and hence, there are lots of alternative details, plot twists). There's one that's just a blank number of pages. Most of the characters...more
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Read in December, 2004
recommends it for:
hardcore Eggers fans
I really enjoyed this book, but I'm a huge Dave Eggers fan. I'd probably enjoy reading Dave Eggers's grocery list. That said, some of these stories probably aren't as well thought out as an Eggers's grocery list, as he alternates 'legitimate' short stories with one-to-two page 'stories' that are little more than second drafts of a writing exercise.
However, the stories that were good were quite good, and 'Quiet' and 'After I was Thrown Into the River and Before I Drowned' (which was my introd...more
However, the stories that were good were quite good, and 'Quiet' and 'After I was Thrown Into the River and Before I Drowned' (which was my introd...more
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recommends it for:
hipsters who like to look hip
I'm sorry, Dave Eggers. I am so, so sorry, because I love you (yes, personally), I love AHWOSG, I love You Shall Know Our Velocity, and I love What is the What. But I did not love this book.
At first I just thought I didn't like the shift from novel to short story, but I can handle it from Wallace, Alexie, and Fitzgerald, so that can't be it. These are just not very well done. To be honest, I felt like Eggers was coasting on his success here. Once you've published something like AHWOSG, ever...more
At first I just thought I didn't like the shift from novel to short story, but I can handle it from Wallace, Alexie, and Fitzgerald, so that can't be it. These are just not very well done. To be honest, I felt like Eggers was coasting on his success here. Once you've published something like AHWOSG, ever...more
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Read in April, 2008
recommends it for:
people who haven't read a lot about injustice
These short stories -- ranging in length from a page to 50 pages -- explore different manifestations of human hunger (in the sense of feeling that something is missing). They were well written, but I found myself getting annoyed with the voice of the privileged person who finds him/herself in oh-so-much agony upon discovering the injustice in the world. I guess it's unfair to expect anything else from Dave Eggers, and certainly it's the reaction I want those people to have, but... their reacti...more
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Read in March, 2008
recommends it for:
Eggers completists
Yeah, this wasn't very good. I like Eggers' other stuff, and I love me some McSweeney's, but this - not so much. They seemed like rough drafts. There's even one (Notes for a Story of a Man Who Will Not Die Alone) that has a great premise, but he doesn't actually write the story, he brainstorms how he would write the story. I know, I know, he's being very purposeful about all of this, I'm sure, but I don't think it makes for a very enjoyable reading experience. I wasn't interested in any of the c...more
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Read in October, 2007
recommends it for:
Sarah Vowell
Lyrical, almost like David Means, but with a (very) slightly lighter touch and a tad more optimism (I think Eggers' characters tend to be younger and have a little more promise). I like this kind of soupy, play-by-play exploration of the characters' motives, how memory and impulse add up to whatever it is they're on the verge of doing at each moment. I was trying to figure out whether he writes realistic women characters, and then just decided that his characters aren't really conscious of or ...more
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Read in July, 2006
This book is a collection of short stories rather than a novel. Although its definitely nice to see new short fiction come out since it seems like a rare form of literature these days, I don’t really feel this book lived up to potential. Quite a few of the stories, such as “Quiet” and “Climbing to the Window, Pretending to Dance” were quite good, however several other stories were too experimental or just seemed incomplete which brought down the collection. My main complaint was tha...more
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I didn't read A Hearbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, but I do think that is the most brilliant name ever given to a book.
All these stories, though very well written, revolve around some form of do-goodery. There is one story in particular that made me ill. It is called "Your Mother and I". It is a story told in the future by a man of our generation telling his son about all the do-goodery they had done in their time which is why the world is such a great place to live now (in t...more
All these stories, though very well written, revolve around some form of do-goodery. There is one story in particular that made me ill. It is called "Your Mother and I". It is a story told in the future by a man of our generation telling his son about all the do-goodery they had done in their time which is why the world is such a great place to live now (in t...more
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Read in September, 2007
recommends it for:
people on vacation
This was perfect for a weekend on the beach/vacation read, because some of the stories are one page and some are much longer. I'm not sure how to grade it because I liked some of the stories and didn't really like others. I don't think it deserves a two though, that's too harsh.
The one page stories are great, Eggers has this knack for capturing the essence of a quirky relationship, and I found myself recognizing things that I do and things my friends do in those stories. I also loved the "...more
The one page stories are great, Eggers has this knack for capturing the essence of a quirky relationship, and I found myself recognizing things that I do and things my friends do in those stories. I also loved the "...more
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Read in January, 2006
This week I read another book written by Dave Eggers. It’s a short fiction collection. Not all of the short story here are readable. Some will make your brows knit... He has style that you might need time to like. If you haven’t read his semi-memoir “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius”, I suggest you to read it first. If you like it, perhaps you might like his short fiction collection, “How We Are Hungry”. Eggers strength is in how he develops ordinary characters in story into...more
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Read in January, 2008
I love Dave Eggers' style. I didn't love every piece in this collection, but I am so drawn to his ability to refresh the short story form. I think part of the reason that I love people who play with form and style is that I would love to do more of that in my own writing. I'd love to be more willing, as Eggers is, to abandon expectations. I'm also wildly jealous of his gift with titles - my two favorite stories in this book are called "The Only Meaning of the Oil-Wet Water" (I love...more
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Read in October, 2005
recommends it for:
anyone with a commute on public transportation
I'm not, by default, a big Eggers fan...but, the amount of worthwhile content he can jam into 3-5 page short stories, let alone the 35ish page ones, is just awe-inspiring. I'm not sure if its his weird-cool pacing, or his bizarre plot prioritizations, or what...but he transfers philisophically useful information into my brain at a staggering rate. I read these little diddies-of-epiphanies on the way to work every morning and felt as though the people on the BART around me could actually hear t...more
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Read in August, 2007
Inconsistent, but amazing when on point. Eggers really exels at the short story--his novels tend to get flabby which sends the narrative arc bouncing up and down like a sine wave of consistency.
Each story in this book focuses on very particular people in very particular times of their life, feeling and expressing very specific emotions. The themes are not broadly drawn, but very, very tightly explored. The irony, of course, is by focusing on the particular, we're able to see a broader truth ...more
Each story in this book focuses on very particular people in very particular times of their life, feeling and expressing very specific emotions. The themes are not broadly drawn, but very, very tightly explored. The irony, of course, is by focusing on the particular, we're able to see a broader truth ...more
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 3.70 (1988 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 3.73 (1668 ratings) number of reviews: 209popular shelves
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