More like A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Self-Centeredness!! This was SUCH a painful read that I could not get past the 250th page! The writing could only be described as a horrendous stream of meta-consciousness; the author is completely convinced of the fact that his life is absolutely fascinating to others... yeah, it's not.

If you are all interested in reading a book about losing members of one's family, growing up in the Midwest or the relationship between brothers, read Shari Goldhagen's Family and Other Accidents -- it does a beautiful job of handling all of these issues through realistically flawed, yet likeable characters.