A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

by

Dave Eggers

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius makes teaching easy.

Meredith Weiss Character Analysis

One of Eggers’s friends. Meredith lives in LA but frequently visits San Francisco. When Eggers goes out one night while Toph is with a babysitter, he calls Meredith and invites her to come dancing. She accepts, and they spend the night drinking in a club before going to a beach, where they talk about his plans for Might magazine. As they speak excitedly about this idea, they are drawn to one another and soon find themselves kissing passionately. As they lie against the sand, a group of teenagers approaches them and starts to hassle them, throwing sand in Eggers’s eyes and roughing them up in a mean but mostly playful manner. After this, though, Eggers can’t find his wallet, so he chases them down and accuses them of stealing. With Meredith, they help him look for his wallet but are unsuccessful, so Eggers calls the police, but they kick him in the crotch and leave. Meredith then stays with Eggers until the police come. Meredith is also friends with John, and calls Eggers every time John threatens suicide.

Meredith Weiss Quotes in A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

The A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius quotes below are all either spoken by Meredith Weiss or refer to Meredith Weiss. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Self-Consciousness and Meta-Narration Theme Icon
).
Chapter 5 Quotes

I tell her how funny it is we’re talking about all this because as it so happens I’m already working to change all this, am currently in the middle of putting together something that will address all these issues, that will inspire millions to greatness, that with some high school friends […] we’re putting something together that will smash all these misconceptions about us, how it’ll help us all to throw off the shackles of our supposed obligations, our fruitless career tracks, how we will force, at least urge, millions to live more exceptional lives, to {standing up for effect} do extraordinary things, to travel the world, to help people and start things and end things and build things…

“And how will you do this?” she wants to know. “A political party? A march? A revolution? A coup?”

“A magazine.”

Related Characters: Dave Eggers (speaker), Meredith Weiss (speaker)
Page Number: 147
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius LitChart as a printable PDF.
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius PDF

Meredith Weiss Quotes in A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

The A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius quotes below are all either spoken by Meredith Weiss or refer to Meredith Weiss. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Self-Consciousness and Meta-Narration Theme Icon
).
Chapter 5 Quotes

I tell her how funny it is we’re talking about all this because as it so happens I’m already working to change all this, am currently in the middle of putting together something that will address all these issues, that will inspire millions to greatness, that with some high school friends […] we’re putting something together that will smash all these misconceptions about us, how it’ll help us all to throw off the shackles of our supposed obligations, our fruitless career tracks, how we will force, at least urge, millions to live more exceptional lives, to {standing up for effect} do extraordinary things, to travel the world, to help people and start things and end things and build things…

“And how will you do this?” she wants to know. “A political party? A march? A revolution? A coup?”

“A magazine.”

Related Characters: Dave Eggers (speaker), Meredith Weiss (speaker)
Page Number: 147
Explanation and Analysis: