Somewhat uneven but a delightful collection of stories. The language is wonderful. Some short pieces experimental, quite bizarre. The longer stories moving, engaging. What will this writer do next?

After reading Egger's 'Zeitoun', I decided to pick this up again. I had bought it a few years earlier and read one or two stories, then set it down (I do that with a lot of books, even ones I really like, for some reason...).

Short stories have long been of special interest to me, and I especially enjoy stories that play with literary form. Eggers does so, and pretty effectively, but I would also say (to his credit) that formal experimentation never seems to be the main point. He comes at fiction with a warmth and humanity that is not always present in "post-modern" fiction writers.

This collection offers a lot of variety, in terms of length, form, and tone. He uses humor well. I can identify with the characters (one of the stories references a fairly obscure political event in Washington DC that I happened to have been present at). I would not say this is world-changing literature, but it's a good read.

A quick read but I don't think I get Dave Eggers. His prose sounds nice but what is he really trying to say? There's a lot about God but not in a way that's interesting or understandable to me. Maybe this is just mean snark but I find his long titles (anticorrelated to the length of the story itself) pretentious-sounding. Your milage may differ.

I'm going to assume based on the title and the back of the book that this collection is supposed to elucidate something about our "animal" hungers versus our civility. I guess if you believe in a rational God, this is weird and confusing. If you believe that people evolved from animals and rationality is kind of a new (and energetically expensive) way of thinking, this is less shocking. The book is also a response to the Iraq War (the Bush one).

Another - OK, a guy is trying to lose himself in the desert and his Egyptian guide is going to help him do that and there will be a bit of a personal price to pay for colonialism and imperialism (but hey, really not that bad). Note the biting horse imagery - this will come back again and I don't know what it means unless the horse is supposed to be subjugated people (ugh).

"What it Means..." - I guess this is about how nationalism is pretty irrational. Sure. That is a thing that is true.

"The Only Meaning..." - I didn't get where this was going. I guess points for trying to write a female character but I'm not sure I bought her. Is it supposed to be about feeling untethered as you turn 30, being stuck in a rut and sleeping with friends just because? Is learning to surf a metaphor for learning to balance, all the while not sure why you're even doing it? Hmm.

"On Wanting..." - Love is ever trying to impress by cramming yourself into some (culturally defined) roles that your partner finds hot. Well, that's nice.

"Climbing to the Window..." - Really didn't get this one. Is the visiting cousin just as messed up or is he just tired and stressed out and out of his depth? The suicidal cousin who also seems pretty sociopathic didn't seem realistic to me but perhaps I shouldn't assume that all suicidal people are similar. This story could be pretty effectively devestating as a story of a guy who doesn't have a lot of family and they don't do too much for him but...it left me confused and not engaged.

"She Waits..." - did this one get a lot of pushback for going full-heartedly for the stereotypically over-involved, drama-loving single mom? Because I don't see how it wouldn't. On the other hand, I kind of buy it.

"Quiet" - not gonna lie, already forgot what this was about. Oh, the sort of rapey one that's the gender-flipped version of "The Only Meaning..." Again, no idea what to make of this one but it grossed me out. I guess in our woke era, we'd read it as an Internet Nice Guy's perspective on raping a friend. I really wonder how Eggers intended it.

"Your Mother and I" - funny and cute, but also pretty smug. Suburban liberals can fix everything if you just let them, y'all. (Maybe the smugness is being skewered - I like to think so because of the awkward Nacho Night but it's hard to tell.)

"Naveed" - again, a female protagonist I just don't get. I want to assume Eggers means well and tries to understand American female perspectives and wants to show those subtle ways that aculturation creeps into even the most "liberated" person's skull but...eh.

"Notes for a Story..." - I like this one, seems like a fun story and I like the bullet point style. (Not obvious to me why the notes style was chosen but hey, why not.)

"About the Man..." - just a little vignette about how people want to re-invent themselves while falling in love or thinking about falling in love. Seems about right.

"Up the Mountain..." - my favourite of the series but really had more foreshadowing than was necessary. Just sad as fuck. I kind of like the implication that Rita is white but her foster sons (? kids?) were probably black; she goes to another continent to see how racism plays out differently but similarly. A great metaphor for how we press on and do what we set out to, even when the evidence (that we ignore) is pretty clear that, if we're really good and considerate people, we should change our plans. The biting horse makes a reappearance here.

"After I Was..." Another WTF from me. Pretty sure dogs don't give themselves weird, competitive physical challenges or kill squirrels without eating them or only like kids and hate adults. Again, the interest in God and the afterlife was meaningless to me. I'm guessing Eggers grew up Christian or around a lot of Christians and is trying to grapple with that.

I think I talked my star rating up a little here as I liked Mountain, About a Man, Notes on a Story and...that's about it.

I really liked this book of short stories. I particularly enjoyed 'The Only Meaning of the Oil-Wet Water', 'Quiet' and 'Up the Mountain Coming Down Slowly'. I read a few reviews where people said they found the book pretentious. There is the story 'There are Some Things He should Keep to Himself' that consists of a blank pages, 'After I Was Thrown in the River and Before I Drowned' which is a story told from a dog's perspective and the meta-fictional 'Notes for a Story of a Man Who Will Not Die Alone'. However, I did not find these more self-conscious stylistic elements off-putting. Eggers has a good turn of phrase and expands upon small things such as a feeling or a sound (such as a 'yelp' in 'When They Learned to Yelp') in an original way that makes you see it differently. Many of the short stories are about a temporary experience such as a holiday which the form seems to suit well.

This is only the second Eggers book I have read, the first being Zeitoun, which I loved. I really enjoyed several on the stories in this book. Many of them are very short, 2-3 pages and I felt most of them ended very well. There were a few that definitely left me wanting more. A few of the longer stories seemed to drag on a bit to much for me, Up the Mountain Coming Down Slowly and After I Was Thrown In The River And Before I Drown. Overall I'd still recommend this book based on the writing style

Uf... Ova me naživcirala.

Ima ovdje dobrih priča. Od 15, dvije su i više nego solidne, a jedna je čak i odlična. Stvarno. Toj bih dao peticu!

Ali to ne mijenja činjenicu da su ostalih 13 pretenciozni gibberish. Većina njih kao da ima 'I be smart' napisano na čelu i da su osoba, slapnuo bih ih. Ne može ih se opisati nikako drugačije, često se ništa ne dogodi, nemaju poruku, nemaju čak ni stil, samo su doslovno waste of space. DOSLOVNO! Evo na primjer priča "Neke bi stvari trebao zadržati za sebe" se DOSLOVNO sastoji od četiri prazne stranice. Kako reagirati na to?!

Jedna priča doslovno se sastoji od bilješki za priču! To su natuknice koje je autor pisao za daleko dulju (i niš spešl) priču koju nikad nije napisao zato jer je umjesto doga jednostavno objavio natuknice! WHAT! Kužim ja da cijeli taj postmoderni smjer omogućava takve igre formom, ali neki put te igre funkcioniraju, a neki put su samo zato jer "I be smart." Fuck you! *slap*

Mrzio sam većinu priča u ovoj zbirki, ali tri najbolje su istovremeno i daleko najdulje (jedna od njih zauzima četvrtinu knjige), zato dvojka... Mogla je čak možda biti i trojka, ali trenutno sam previše iživciran za to.

A one četiri prazne stranice su tu da ih ispunite krvlju ovog mamlaza ako ikad naiđete na njega.

P.S: Ne pomaže ni to što hrvatsko izdanje ove knjige ima jedan od najgorih prijevoda ikad. Tipfeleri, pravopisne greške (prevoditelj doslovno ne zna s/sa), neshvaćanje teksta (Intel proizvodi čips???)... Ma grozno. I to još od VBZ-a.

*slap* svima.

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 identified with sex, or race for that matter -- other than as implicit physical/social characteristics, these categories don't really exist as a way for people to identify themselves --there is no gender or race, just personality types. But there were definitely about 5 or 6 typos.

The only other Eggers book I've read is "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius". I felt that the second half of the this collection of stories was much stronger than the first. There were some unremarkable moments along the way. He is at his best when the story is approached with a conceptual framework, definitely his forte. That being said, Eggers has a unique focus, always the underlying feeling of wishing to be more connected to the human community and exist with an awareness and care for that community. I think that's what makes him most exciting.

Well well well. A Hodge podgy of short stories. Some excellent, some just so so. Throw in a few amazing quotes and all in all I enjoyed. Hard to gauge against his other work. But it is safe to say if you like his other books you will like this also

I was kind of ambivalent about this book. I'm trying out Eggers because Anna loves him so much, but I'm not sure what I think, still. In this book I most enjoyed the last story about the dog.

I liked the way he was realistic about how people interact with each other, what their motives are and what their internal monologues are. It was honest and felt true to my experiences. I think this can be helpful - a way to see ourselves outside of ourselves. But it can also be painful and sad, and not in a particularly helpful way.

So I'm not sure what I think. I might try A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius next, after a while.

At first I was not a fan. I started it back in June and because of so many false starts, it took me until half way through and mid August for me to finally start to realize what sort of writer Dave Eggers is, and then I loved it. He is creative genius and it shows through the huge variety of tales included in this collection. He isn't afraid to challenge any aspect of how or from who's perspective a story unfolds. Keep an open mind and you'll be shocked. I would talk to myself during some parts of his story, laugh out loud at others and then ignore the book for weeks because of nonsense that didn't seem to fit anywhere in the narrative.

Still fun to read though!

Meh. An 00s word for a very 00s book.

Like Eggers' You Shall Know Our Velocity (2002), it has a pre-lapsarian naivety: stories of middle-class white Americans who, before the crash, rarely worry about money, and who go on holiday to exotic locations and stay wrapped up in their own worlds. A narrative that is embarrassingly honest and likely accurate, but would be unfashionable and frequently vilified online now - especially as it doesn't actively signpost embarrassment and guilt as much as one is supposed to. One could argue that Eggers' writing career has followed that modern therapeutic maxim (that isn't right for everyone, for sometimes these things aid each other simultaneously): deal with your own shit before trying to help others: his early books looked at self, family and friends of similar backgrounds, then he moved on to big political, sometimes global themes.

I enjoyed Velocity a few years ago, but many of these short stories I found quite boring. I used to really like Eggers (also Heartbreaking Work - evidently right for the 'loved-it-at-the-time' tag) and remember saying, possibly not on here, it might have been on a creative writing course pre-GR, that he perfectly captured how things feel and I wished I could write that way. I read about half of How We Are Hungry in 2011 and was fairly impressed then. Now I find it mostly flat and detached emotionally, and characters are dull because they're rarely interested in anything except themselves, family and friends, and express it in a numbed, ordinary way. Which is at least fast to read. They're still working out how they feel about everyday stuff in a late-twenties way - a noticeably bad fit for the characters aged 40+, whose voices rarely sound like they are that age. Currently, Richard Powers is the author who fits ... how I see life, which isn't quite the right phrase, and anyway the very idea of writers fitting your life or outlook at certain points sounds like something from a rubbish, wanky MFA in a comment thread: but emotions and experiences in Powers' fiction are more vivid than in early Eggers, and he and his characters are fascinated by complex topics outside themselves.

Stuff I did like in How We Are Hungry:
-'Your Mother and I': a father, probably 40ish, is reminiscing about life to a pre-teen kid, except he and his wife literally 'put the world to rights' as one can only do in daydreams. Some of it's big stuff, other little personal irritations. It's charming and unexpected, and it clicked with conversations I have with friends about stuff we wish we could change.
Quote: About then, we had a real productive period. In about six months, we established a global minimum wage, we made it so smoke detectors could be turned off without having to rip them from the ceiling, and we got Soros to buy the Amazon to preserve it.
-'Naveed'. A girl, twenties presumably, realises she's about to sleep with her thirteenth person and resolves to pull a fourteenth ASAP so her 'number' won't be 13 and she won't have to hear jokes about a 'baker's dozen' and so on. Her expectation of judgement was a shame - in my circle that wasn't a big number at all, and no one was judgemental about that stuff anyway, [who are these people who are still like that and young and not religious?] so being on '13' for as short a time as possible was simply superstition - but it was one of those funny little internal thoughts that one never expects to see in writing.
- 'Up the Mountain Coming Down Slowly'. Really should be bracketed with the dull stories about Americans on exotic holidays. But more interesting personally as it's about mountaineering & trekking, stuff that, if I were fit and well, I'd rather be doing in my spare time than sitting about on GR - albeit in less environmentally fucked ways than this expedition. I liked the mundane accounts of things one usually hears in a different style and with more drama in non-fiction, and attention to experiential details that those writers either ignore or are too seasoned to have to deal with in the first place.
- 'After I Was Thrown in the River and Before I Drowned'. Depressingly titled story, but actually rather exhilarating even where the circumstances don't ring true. Told from dog POV (Kafka inspiration?). Hint: the two events are years apart.
- I marked the only two things that made me laugh. They make me sound like a bit of a sicko, but anyway. She wanted to open umbrellas in the faces of cats, make them scurry and scream. Wot? And a little less bizarrely: The problem is that Fish has never had a fascination with people who try to kill themselves. Maybe if he took more of an interest in the concept, Adam wouldn't keep trying to prove how intriguing it is.

Elsewhere, it does one of two things that really annoy me in fiction just now. At least the collection doesn't contain any dreams or fortune telling scenes that come true. (Will someone PLEASE write more stories in which they don't.) But there are characters who say they know what will happen in a new friendship, e.g. I knew then that I would get her a job where I worked, that she and I would become closer, that I would know the things I want to know about her. I tend to know instantly if I like people IRL, so that basic feeling I've no problem with - but this stuff, no. And it's getting boring the frequency with which it appears in books. There are more interesting ways for writers to show their working if they want to do some meta reveal of their storyboard. Like 'Notes for a Story of a Man Who Will Not Die Alone' - cool plan structure, which half reminded me why I used to like Eggers. A mis-step though to make the man a retired ob-gyn (it's hard for a male one not to seem a little odd, and anyone who'd had much to do with healthcare would see dying as a messier and less predictable business than the character does). The plot was kind of charming along the lines of Dave Gorman / Danny Wallace projects, but I wondered if I would have noticed ten years ago how crashingly egotistical the character's idea was; now that realisation spoilt the potentially endearing nature of the piece. In both its good and bad points it seemed remarkably of its time.

I only read this because I'd started it in the past - and it's short. Not sure I'd recommend it for anyone other than Eggers completists.