As inspired by the Facebook challenge, I will post about books that have inspired me. This one leans memoir. Enjoy!
I read A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius in 11th grade, which was a formative year for my development as a reader. In English class we studied classics in-depth and learned how to write effectively—and correctly. Our teacher discovered we had never been given a proper grammar lesson and devoted several months to bring us past a third-grade level. We were almost a lost generation, ruined by irresponsible curriculum planners and bad pedagogical trends. God bless Brian Moore for saving us.
I saw AHWOSG on the rack in Wegmans and fell in love with its audacious title and pretentious cover. For the first time, a bunch of review quotes enticed me to buy a book. At least part of my enjoyment came from the preciousness of personal discovery and ownership.
I was enamored with Eggers’ super-emotional writing. Here was a man who, I believed, could relate to my adolescent fervor and, in the privacy of my bedroom, whisk me away from the dishonest WASPy environment I lived in. Strange, that I related more to Eggers than Toph, who was closer to my age. As an author, he is a master of revelation and empathy. I believed I was mature enough to handle the terrible highs and dreadful lows Eggers revealed.
I remember showing Mr. Moore the final passage of the book and relishing the vulgarity. ‘He really earns it.’ This was my big Linda Cardellini listening to the Dead in Freaks & Geeks moment. An artist unlocked a broiling passion in me. It was propulsive. Didn’t matter that I couldn’t trace Eggers’ influences to grasp the literary lineage. AHWSOG was a pop masterpiece. Didn’t matter that I was devouring and aping emotions without understanding their impact or weight. That’s a teenager’s modus operandi. Didn’t matter that I was uncorking excitements without a sommelier or shepherd, that I was behaving in small ways how my Mother would later describe as “things we should have noticed” when the doctors diagnosed me Bipolar Type 1. That was inevitable.
Phil Gross, Game Designer 