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Hologram for the King

by Eggers, Dave
Hologram for the King

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  • Synopses & Reviews

ISBN13: 9781936365746
ISBN10: 193636574X
Condition: Standard


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Synopses & Reviews

Review

"An extraordinary work of timely and provocative themes....This novel reminds us that above all, Eggers is a writer of books, and a writer of the highest order....An outstanding achievement in Eggers's already impressive career, and an essential read." Carmela Ciuraru, The San Francisco Chronicle

Review

"Eggers understands the pressures of American downward-mobility, and in the protagonist of his novel, Alan Clay, has created an Everyman, a post-modern Willy Loman....The novel operates on a grand and global scale, but it also is intimate." Elizabeth Taylor, The Chicago Tribune

Review

"Fascinating....Although Godot may be Hologram's philosophical source, Eggers is no Beckettian minimalist. The novel is paradoxically suspenseful, but it's also rich in character and in Eggers's evocative writing about place....A Hologram for the King, as far from home as it might seem, is an acute slice of American life." Colette Bancroft, Tampa Bay Times

Review

"Dave Eggers is a prince among men when it comes to writing deeply felt, socially conscious books that meld reportage with fiction. While A Hologram for the King is fiction...it's a strike against the current state of global economic injustice." Elissa Schappell, Vanity Fair

Review

"[A] supremely readable parable of America in the global economy that is haunting, beautifully shaped and sad....With ferocious energy and versatility, [Eggers] has been studying how the world is remaking America....Eggers has developed an exceptional gift for opening up the lives of others so as to offer the story of globalism as it develops and, simultaneously, to unfold a much more archetypal tale of struggle and loneliness and drift." Pico Iyer, The New York Times Book Review

Review

"Eggers's spare prose is a pleasure, and A Hologram for the King proves to be a deft blend of surreal adventure, absurd comedy and pointed observations." Georgia Rowe, San Jose Mercury News

Review

"As the kingless days pass, Alan ventures from the tent and hotel into the rich, unsettling realities of the Kingdom, and Eggers ventures deeper into Alan, as well as into the question that has seemingly guided Eggers's work for years: What does it mean to be an American in a world that has places like the Sudan, Saudi Arabia, or post-Katrina New Orleans?" Alan Scherstuhl, San Francisco Weekly

Synopsis

In a rising Saudi Arabian city, far from weary, recession-scarred America, a struggling businessman pursues a last-ditch attempt to stave off foreclosure, pay his daughters college tuition, and finally do something great. In A Hologram for the King, Dave Eggers takes us around the world to show how one man fights to hold himself and his splintering family together in the face of the global economys gale-force winds. This taut, richly layered, and elegiac novel is a powerful evocation of our contemporary moment — and a moving story of how we got here.

About the Author

Dave Eggers is the bestselling author of seven books including A Hologram for the King, a finalist for the National Book Award; Zeitoun, winner of the American Book Award and Dayton Literary Peace Prize; and What Is the What, which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and won Frances Prix Medici. In 2002, with Ninive Calegari he cofounded 826 Valencia, a nonprofit writing and tutoring center for youth in the Mission District of San Francisco. Local communities around the country have since opened sister 826 centers. Eggers lives in Northern California with his wife and two children.


4.8 14

What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating 4.8 (14 comments)

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c_calanca , January 06, 2013
Eggers does it again, with an inspirational ability to capture the reader and not let go.

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Rpkalish , January 04, 2013
This book begins to clutch you, slowly at first and then quickly. You become totally immersed in what, at first, seems like a simple tale but is actually a profound comment on our world and the powers that influence it.

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PatrickB , January 03, 2013
I read this in one day, mostly in a tent on a camping trip. a nice mix of delicious readability and thoughtful, provocative writing.

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lasognatore , January 02, 2013
A fast read, Hologram for the King is clever, funny and sad. It is very easy to relate to the main character Alan Clay, as he's the epitome of the American fighting "first-world problems" but still very much struggling from the US recession. He takes us to Saudi Arabia, where we encounter a much different culture and climate, with its own beautiful idiosyncrasies, contradictions and colorful characters. As we wonder if the King will ever show, are we "Waiting for Godot"? Life is fragile, emotional and complicated no matter the economic or natural climate you're in, and Hologram for the King really illustrates that.

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Little Wolf , January 02, 2013 (view all comments by Little Wolf)
This is one of those wonderful reads where the "screen" dissolves and you're there. If it were only for this,and the human interest factor,it would be well worth the time. Added,for your drinking and dining delight,is a cogent,and deftly handled, overview (innerview?) of our (USA) recent history. The inner voice of the main character is all too familiar. Worth it,Worth it.

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Anna Narbutovskih , January 01, 2013
This is a classic study of how a life that has a lot of promise can fail. This is a study of how someone can misread the situations around him and fail and know he's failing, yet is helpless to change the paradigm.

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nfischler , January 01, 2013
I loved this book. Once again, Dave Eggers delivers a powerful story with an important message.

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Gregory Campora , January 01, 2013
I love Eggers' "new" style - simple, direct and honest. This book affected me, emotionally. Besides being interesting. It reminds me of Stewart O'Nan in that the impact of the story sneaks up on you. Read it.

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RunningMN , January 01, 2013
A modern day version of Waiting for Godot and/or Death of a Salesman that has Eggers' typical strong prose.

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brookbrook , January 01, 2013 (view all comments by brookbrook)
one of the best of the year!

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Little Wolf , November 01, 2012 (view all comments by Little Wolf)
I came late to the "Dave Eggers Bandwagon", now I'm going to have to backtrack because "Hologram" was a gas. This is a fast paced,but not hurried,excursion with Alan,a not still young fellow who tends to spend a lot of time rummaging through his past with no small measure of regret. This could have been just a dismal slog through self-pity,but Eggers insight and deft light touch,keep it interesting,in fact seductive.That word,seductive,is rather a watchword or touchstone throughout Alan's adventure through evaporating business, real beauty and lust, fake beauty and lust,middle-eastern enigma, and the possibility of,if not redemption...a possible"second-act",in an American life. The characters are full and real, I was glad to meet them,at least this way. This way to the mirror.

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Jennifer Boyer , August 31, 2012 (view all comments by Jennifer Boyer)
I get excited anytime a new Dave Eggers book is published, and once again my anticipation proved worthwhile. I normally do not read book reviews (or movie reviews) prior to my own perusal, but Pico Iyer's (another fantastic writer) review in the Times' Books Review had me antsy to get my hands on a copy. When my own book came in the mail (as I live in far eastern Oregon, so all Powell's business happens online...sigh...), I was positively giddy with excitement. This is a quick read, with broad plot lines about reflection and economy. What always impresses me about Eggers' writing is the ability to be witty, referent and human simultaneously. After reading his books based on real people (Zeitoun and What is the What), I felt that Alan was less a character then another real person--as if this was a sort of narrative non-fictional tale. If you've enjoyed other books by Eggers, you will enjoy this too. Oh, and the binding and cover is really neat, too; looks awesome on my book shelf!

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brookbrook , August 05, 2012 (view all comments by brookbrook)
I love reading this book. I have never written a review before finishing a book, unless of course it was too bad to read. Which is not the case here. I can't read in the car, otherwise i would be finishing it now. Admittedly, every time I read Dave eggers I am almost shocked by his incredible storytelling. I begin each book with an unfair and completely unfounded assumption that it will be all about him, and written with a boring hipster dialect that's been done a thousand times. But I am so far off; he is the real deal. A truly gifted writer, one of the best of our generation. Telling fact through fiction is no easy feat. He is incredibly perceptive. And funny. And totally invisible in each story that you just know he is the only one who could have possibly written it. I love his writing, and feel lucky to be around while he is. Read this if you haven't already, and his other books, too.

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Peter M Saucerman , August 05, 2012 (view all comments by Peter M Saucerman)
Dave Eggers has a clear, succinct way with prose, a very dry wit, and a superb grasp of detail. All of these combine to make 'A Hologram for the King' and extremely readable novel. Overtones of Kafka's 'The Castle' pervade this story as the protaganist waits (and waits and waits) for the audience that he hopes will solve all of his life problems. There is a disturbing undercurrent, of Americans desperately banking on their rapidly tarnishing reputations as leaders of the business world, only to be outpaced by - well, you read it to find out. A great summer read, and beautifully bound to boot, as an old-fashioned American product should be.

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Product Details

ISBN:
9781936365746
Binding:
Hardcover
Publication date:
06/19/2012
Publisher:
MCSWEENEYS
Pages:
328
Height:
1.10IN
Width:
6.20IN
Thickness:
1.00
Copyright Year:
2012
UPC Code:
9781936365746
Author:
Dave Eggers
Author:
Dave Eggers

Ships free on qualified orders.
Add to Cart
$12.50
List Price:$25.00
Used Hardcover
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