The Wild Things

"Once Max reaches the island of the beasts, Eggers goes for broke. We get a writhing Technicolor landscape of carnivorous vines, lava beds, mini-tornadoes, mutant snakes, and, of course, the beasts themselves, a motley bundle of brawn and neuroses.... The real question, when it comes to literature, is whether a particular author is interested in hustling us through a breakneck plot (a la Dan Brown) or investigating the internal lives of his or her creations. The best books--and I happily include "The Wild Things" on this list--manage to do both.... Eggers has written a book for readers of all ages, without dumbing down his prose. But his highest achievement is in having found a fresh way to tell us a story we already know so well, about the monstrous forces of love and hate that mark every childhood--and pursue us howling into adulthood."-- Steve Almond, "Boston Globe" "Eggers, in this funny and touching novelization of Maurice Sendak's picture book, is brilliant at portraying the exuberance and chaos of a young boy's mind and heart."-- "San Francisco Chronicle" "Not content to reinforce the foundation of Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are," Eggers instead architects entirely new additions. Young Max's psyche is fully formed, and the Wild Things themselves are given wonderfully eclectic personalities, ensuring each new chapter is greeted with a sweet sense of anticipation."-- "Powells.com" Staff Pick "Dave Eggers has created a novel like childhood itself: sometimes weird, sometimes dark, and full of wonder.... Like the original, this is far from the cosy world kids are often fed, but it has real heart--Eggers uses simple but superbly effective prose to suggest that childhood has to be lived without cosseting for us to grow up with any semblance of a normal personality."-- Doug Johnstone, the "Independent" "Eggers makes us privy to Max's thoughts, fears and desires. He lets us feel the boy's confusion a