I'm starting Eggers' second book and found that he just, on the 9th, published his third. How We Are Hungry is a collection of short stories. Not much information except that it's only available for pre-order on Amazon and it's already hit the sub-1000s sales rank.
I was surprised at the love him or hate him attitude of the reviewers at Amazon. I need to go back and start Heartbreak over again.
Posted by: Mason at August 15, 2004 10:15 PMI'm tearing through Velocity (or, as the fans say, YSKOV). I think AHWOSG was a little more scattered and difficult--though honestly not that difficult. If you had trouble with it, the style is just not for you.
The big arguments over at Amazon were generally around the he's-too-clever-and-he-knows-it issue, which is a tough argument to make: how is his "knowing it" displayed in the text? He is a facile writer and an expressive story-teller with a unique voice. Some of his unusual techniques, which are used effectively (not just style for style's sake), turn some people off. That's fine, but they need to differentiate "bad writing" and "writing I don't like." It's OK to dislike good writing.
Posted by: sstrader at August 15, 2004 11:12 PM