Literature Mapping

I just finished reading A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. This was a hilarious book. It reminded me a lot of Erland Loe, my favorite Norwegian author, but I think a lot of it has to do with the prose.

Anyways, I really enjoyed the book, but was sort of surprised to learn that it was #1 on the NYT bestsellers list and that it was nominated for a Pulitzer*. I found out about it from a friend who was reading it on a trip a few years ago, but Dave Eggers, the author, was also awarded a TED Award this year and has apparently done a lot of fiction work that I think might be worth checking out. I haven't been able to watch his speech on the TED.com website yet , but, wow. Not bad. I like this guy.


After I finished the novel, I was looking up more information on the author & other characters** and I found this awesome website I wanted to share called Literature-Map. It's basically just a list of book recommendations based on what other Dave Eggers (or X author's) fans enjoyed (basically what Amazon and any online bookstore gives you in about 2 seconds), but I like the constellation-appearance and the authors they referred me to were pretty on.

Check it out if you have time ;)

*Random Thought: I really need to get to bed, but before I head out...
So my friend Ben saw the Eggers book in my purse when we went to the museum on Saturday and made a comment about how great it was but that "nobody could write like him."

I have to say, if you carried a tape recorder around with you and recorded the details of your everyday life, I actually think I know quite a few people that would write comparatively amusing, entertaining and/or at least wacky memoirs. It takes some guts to put those intimate thoughts out there, yes, but apparently it can be worth it.

Shoot... maybe I should have thought of this two years ago when I was moving abroad? Life is certainly random enough here.

Also, a Pulitzer nod also ain't bad for someone who self-describes their introductary masterpiece as "memior-y" (p. xx), swears every other sentence, paints his "literary pallet" using imagery and vocab like "[being] all centipedey" (p. 375).

**I also have to mention, on the topic of looking up information on the family, that I was pretty crushed to learn that solid, responsible Beth committed suicide two years after the book was published. If you've read it, you know who I'm talking about. I know it's stupid to feel remorse for someone I don't know, and ironic to feel it for someone in a book that actually makes fun of people that react to the deaths and misfortunes of people they don't know, have never met and will never meet (just because they are famous). I know she was a real person, but it sort of seems sad in the same way it did with ficticious characters like Voldemort (when he died) or Mr. Darcy (when you think Elizabeth Bennet has missed her chance).