This is an impressive little book that spans genres and approaches to modern literature. I really enjoyed it, but interestingly I thought that it fell short of his usual work. There is no doubt in my mind that it is fantastic, but I have a hard time holding it up to the same esteem as his previous work YSKOV, or even AHWOSG... Again, if this was his first text and was held up to the light of other short fiction authors of today, it would be wonderful. My favorite text within it is 'Up the Mountain Coming Down Slowly' which delivers the transcendental movement and geographty that originally made me enjoy YSKOV so much. Just so there is no confusion in my review, I treasure my signed copy very much, but I may recommend that friends read this text last in the exploration of Eggers' gorgeous body of work.

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!

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.

Honestly not sure how I got through this book. Some of the short stories were great, others I wanted to bang my head into a wall.

Back when I read this, I was pretty not-into short stories. And this book did nothing to change that. I might like it more now, but at the time the stories seemed too diffuse, despite competent rendering, to really get anything much across in their short lengths.

Loved it! I have two favorite stories from this collection, "Notes for a Story of a Man Who Will Not Die Alone" and "On Things He Should Keep to Himself." I don't want to give too much away, but for an idea, the "Notes for a Story" is literally that. Eggers begins the story as an outline or brainstorming of what he will write in this tale. As he goes through the basic plot, he writes the things that he will flesh out later, but we don't get to see that, all we see is the beginning of the process. So for example, he talks about the Man's son -- David, Derek, Dennis -- and then later calls him Derek. I thought it was a great look at the process of writing a story. Because they are short stories and the collection itself is slim, this is a quick read. I highly recommend it. And more Eggers' books are on my "to-read" list.

I would give it three and a half stars, but since I'm such an optimist, I rounded up. So. I like Dave Eggers. His voice is warm and he seems like he could be a friend to all. Or to some. To me, at least. He seems like someone in a graduate program that is, like, REALLY good. And you are jealous of him because his writing is really good, but you can't hate him too much because he is also quite likable. That being said, sometimes I long for more in his work. Or maybe it's not that I long for more, perhaps I just have to read him in small doses. Still, a great writer.

When I started this book of short stories, I was convinced I would love it. Dave Eggers crafts such beautiful sentences. After two days, though, I was longingly looking at my other books, desperate to be finished. I think I may have loved some of the stories if I had read them separately. "The Only Meaning of the Oil-Wet Water" was great, invoking such a sandy, sunburned atmosphere that my own skin felt hot and tight. But some of the shorter stories felt meaningless, pasted on more for style than for substance. A strong collection of short stories, in my mind, keeps a steady cadence. "How We Are Hungry" seemed so tacked together that none of the seams matched up.

I always feel duped when a writer takes everything they've written for magazines and journals and dumps them into one book. This is such a book. It certainly wasn't terrible, but I wouldn't want to live in a house built this way.

"After I Fell into the River" is an great story, I like to hear stories from the POV of other beings than humans. And the afterlife part adds a bonus.
"Your Mother and I" is a suburban, if-democrats-weren't-actually-less-stupid-republicans, ecotopia-vision told in dialogue and while making nachos, the nachos part is a little too cutesy but the ideas to change society are well done.
The very short stories in this collection all aren't that special.
Some of the stories in this collection I was bored with, especially the return of "Hand" from YSKOV!
"Another" was an enjoyable story that showcased travel, Eggers must be traveling a lot or wishing he was.

I was disappointed, given the admiration for this writer by a close friend. The writing style is good I'll admit but the so-called stories are reminiscent of an immature writer. The collection includes many that were previously published elsewhere.

My reaction or summary is to say that the stories treat human foibles or particular emotions as worthy of literary treatment and as such are not worth much to me as art. From a paranoid man riding horses with an Egyptian stranger to an anthropomorphized dog drowning to make a surprising discovery I was not moved up or down any mountains.

I read Dave Eggers short story collection How We Are Hungry and mostly enjoyed it. I felt that the longer stories were the most interesting and well written. Some of the shorter pieces came off as preciously whimsical or smugly knowing-the literary equivalent of a Wes Anderson film. However, the stories “The Only Meaning of the Oil-Wet Water” and “Up The Mountain Coming Down Slowly” demonstrate Eggers’ excellent ear for dialogue, effective characterizations, and inventive descriptions. He does an excellent job of bringing the character’s personalities and emotional states accurately to life. In the former story, we have a woman visiting a male friend in Nicaragua, and the complex emotions between the two are laid bare. And the later is a realistic rendering of a mountain climbing adventure full of the self-revelations that would most likely occur during such a challenging and arduous endeavor. Again beautifully rendered. It makes me wonder if Eggers has been doing a lot of traveling since his breakthrough success with A Staggering Work Of Heartbreaking Genius given the locations of these stories and the world traveling antics of his characters Will and Hand in his previous novel You Shall Know Our Velocity.

my ex gave me this slim volume of short stories - part of a Christmas package he gave me. just the right size to slip into my bag, it’s perfect for reading on the bus to the gym or grocery store. the first story - read this weekend on the way to and from getting groceries - is so good. not everyone who is a good writer is a good short story writer; not everyone is a Maupassant. Ernest Hemmingway is. John Steinbeck is. and D.H. Lawrence is.

in this story, entitled 'Another', Eggers uses perfect restraint. he gives just enough background to give context to the character’s state of mind and that allows us an inkling into why he feels as he does about his current situation. otherwise, Eggers sticks to the ‘now of the story’. the result is a story with well defined clear boundaries; a story contained to a particular moment in time.

i'm looking forward to reading more