I like Eggers' writing style and way of phrasing, but I think that short stories aren't really his forte.

His characters and stories are quirky and strange, but I really think that they need the development and length that come from a full-length novel. Short stories leave the reader a little wanting. That probably explains why some of my favorites from the collection were those that were longest ("Notes for a Story of a Man Who Will Not Die Alone," "Up the Mountain Coming Down Slowly," "Climbing to the Window, Pretending to Dance").

It was neat, however, to see some of the characters from his other books integrated into his short stories, and some of the stories are from interesting perspectives (e.g., a dog) that you might not expect. Overall a good read, but if I have a hankering for the writer's voice, I'll pick up one of his full-length novels.

I did not enjoy these short stories; I found them mundane and did not relate to any of the characters. There was one short story that was narrated by a dog that was very funny; I enjoyed the simple language of how dogs might see the world. I have enjoyed Eggers' work and look forward to reading more of his work, this one just missed the mark.

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, many arguments. I read several issues of McSweeney's and enjoyed them. I enjoyed his editorials in The Best American Non Required Reading series. I bought A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and couldn't bring myself to read it. (Don't ask me why, but it is still in my 'to-read' pile. I will get to it this year, I swear, but I still can't explain my reluctance to dive into it.)

When this collection of short stories came out, I snatched it up. I am a huge fan of short story collections, usually preferring them to novels. Of course, it sat in my to-read pile for quite awhile too.

But I finally read it. And I enjoyed it. I particularly liked "The Only Meaning of the Oil-Wet Water," and "Up the Mountain Coming Down Slowly." I think the combination of the intensely personal with the (nicely understated) world politics of class worked very well in these two pieces. I also liked "Notes for a Story of a Man Who Will Not Die Alone" for its experimentation. While not the craziest piece I've ever read, it told its own story while pretending to be only a list of possibilities for a story. Many of the other pieces were enjoyable, but also less interesting.

What I feel did not work at all were the flash fiction pieces woven throughout. I've read one flash piece by Eggers before (which I can't remember the title of for the life of me) and loved it, but these fell flat, in my opinion. Typically, I am a fan of the genre. A good flash fiction piece is very powerful -- it has to be to work in such a small timeframe. These just didn't feel like they had that power, that punch to them.

Overall, I enjoyed the collection and will definitely read more Eggers in the future. Once I catch up, perhaps I can join in on the great Dave Eggers debate.

Edit: and p.s. I love the cover, whether the book may be judged by it or not.

"After I Was Thrown in the River and Before I Drowned" changed my life

THINGS I LIKED:
-The price I paid for this book at the used bookstore, $2
-The title
-The cover
-While I was in the store, I read the very short story "On Wanting to Have Three Walls Up Before She Gets Home" and it really resonated, so I decided to buy the book. It's nice to have some short stories sometimes, when I don't have time or energy to get invested in a whole novel.
-"Another." Since this is the first story in the collection, I thought I was going to love the collection...
-"Your Mother and I." This story just made me laugh, all the amazing and silly things the dad says he and the mother did together. And it seemed like at the end when the mother appears that he really loves her and maybe all the stories he told were really just expressing how much he loved her and how it felt like they had done such amazing things together in the world and the world is better because he knew her.
-"About the Man Who Began Flying After Meeting Her." Another very short story, a nice little snapshot about picturing your future with someone, who you'll be with that person in your future. But it could be different with someone else...
-"Up the Mountain Coming Down Slowly." So actually I didn't enjoy reading most of this one because it was slow and I just couldn't care about the main character for most of it, but the end killed me so that made it stick. Read to the end of this one, even if you want to skim most of the beginning.
-"When They Learned to Yelp." I like how this story made the emotion into a very visceral response/experience.
-"After I Was Thrown in the River and Before I Drowned." I like the dog's perspective. I could've done without the second-to-last paragraph, it didn't make much sense really, but I like the last line, which is also the last line of the book: "Everyone in the life before was cranky, I think, because they just wanted to know." About God. Mystery, I think.
-Every story does tie into the title in some way, deep desires and whatnot, for better or worse.

THE MAIN THING I DIDN'T LIKE:
-The story "Quiet." In reading reviews, I've seen that some people really like this story. Someone can feel free to tell me WHYYYYYY. In short, this story is about a man who might describe himself as a "nice guy" but then he rapes his friend. I thought about chucking the book right then.

OTHER THINGS:
-I felt that the characters overall were pretty flat.
-While Eggers had some interesting turns of phrase now and then, a lot of the writing could have been thrown out in my opinion, sections that didn't move the story or character development forward. Especially in "The Only Meaning of the Oil-Wet Water" and "Climbing to the Window, Pretending to Dance."
-I now remember why I don't read post-modern lit like this very often, where the major themes are suicide, unsatisfying sex, dysfunctional friendships/relationships, and the occasional rape.
-If this were just the stories I wrote about liking, I'd probably give the collection 4 to 4.5 stars. But as it is, I can't commit to a number of stars.

really interesting writing style, some really good stories!

Dave Eggers is so refreshing, so powerful.

Please do find time for this literary treat. Simply winderful

I love Dave Eggers. A really lot. This is only the second book of his that I've read, and it won't go on my favorites, but I was really pleased with the short stories a lot... I think his style lends itself to novels much better, since the longer short stories were my favorites:

"The Only Meaning of the Oil-Wet Water" (Pilar and Hand from Velocity. What is not to love here. I was so happy I squealed.)

"Climbing to the Window, Pretending to Dance"

"Quiet" (This one broke my heart on so many levels.)

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 are off-the-wall and on the move (one in Egypt, one in Costa Rica, another in Isle of Skye, and one climbing Kilimanjaro, among others) and tackling "love" in one form or another (whether running away, being paranoid about, or turning it into hate). They are also infinitely humorous and experimental (one page stories that are not flashes but more like character developments). It's not everyone's cup of tea, but Dave Eggers is a consummate writer, and his prose and continuously surprising plot twists and funny details keep you zipping through this ultra-fast read.

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 "your mother and I" story. Some of the longer ones are kind of depressing and the relationships in them seem less real and indentifiable somehow. You'd think it would be the other way around.

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

Eggers turns the short story form into an adventure tale for the reader, showing both the exuberance and baser natures of humanity.

"Notes for a Story of a Man Who Will Not Die Alone" purports to be just that, but ends up being quite a good short story in itself! What a way to leave this world!

"After I was Thrown in the River and Before I Drowned" is quite an exciting tale though it is basically a simple tale told from a dog's point of view. Just a story of your average wild and crazy dog racing around aimlessly, but then one day overextending himself and dying. The story ends with a surprising description of doggie heaven--and why people on earth are cranky!

A great collection of stories told by a superlative spinner of wonder!