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The Wild Things

Dave Eggers

2009281 pagesabout 4–6 hours
2009
first published
  • 2009McSweeney's Books · ENGISBN 9781934781616
  • 2009Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group · ENGISBN 9780307477569
  • 2009HarperCollins Publishers · ENGISBN 9780061669095
  • 2009Hamish Hamilton · 281 pages · ENGISBN 9780241144220
  • 2010Hamish Hamilton · ENGISBN 9780141037134
  • 2010Vintage Books · 284 pages · ENGISBN 9780307475466
  • 2011Kiepenheuer & Witsch GmbHISBN 9783462043068
  • 2009Kiepenheuer & Witsch GmbHISBN 9783462041767

In a stunning act of imagination, Dave Eggers has adapted Maurice Sendak's children's classic, Where the Wild Things Are, into this richly drawn full-length novel, the story of a lonely boy navigating the emotional journey away from boyhood. Max is a rambunctious eight-year-old, living with his mother and his sister, terrorizing the neighborhood on his bicycle. But Max's world is changing around him: His father is absent and his mother is increasingly distracted. Max's teenage sister is outgrowing him, leaving him alone in favor of her friends. Sad and angry, Max dons his wolf suit and makes terrible, ruinous mischief. Setting off into the night, Max finds a boat and sails away to an island. Here he meets strange and giant creatures. Creatures that rage and break things. Creatures that trample and scream. These monsters do everything Max feels inside! And so, Max appoints himself their king. Here, on a magnificent adventure with the creatures, Max can be the wildest thing of all.In this visionary new novel, Eggers brings an imaginary world vividly to life, filling it with monsters, chaos, and one very real little boy. By turns beautiful and joyful, sorrowful and strange, The Wild Things is an astonishing literary triumph.

How it feels

AtmosphereWhimsical

How it reads

Character focusSmall ensemble

When and where

Reading situationTravel
PlaceIsland
ThemesFamily
How do you feel?