Paperback, 416 pages
Published April 25, 2003 by Random House of Canada, Limited.
In his first novel, Dave Eggers has written a moving and hilarious tale of two friends who fly around the world trying to give away a lot of money and free themselves from a profound loss. It reminds us once again what an important, necessary talent Dave Eggers is.From the Trade Paperback edition.
Yeah, sorry. I couldn't finish it. Maybe someday, but not here, not now.
Even though I love Eggers's other books, I did not enjoy this one and almost did not finish it. Somehow Eggers has a great, great talent for telling stories that already exist, but he does not really have a talent for coming up with stories. The central thesis of this book is the idea that two friends want to give away some money, in memory of a friend they lost, and for reasons that remain unclear, they need to do this in one week, all over the world. I never really bought into this premise and then all the rest that follow (weird adventures in involving taxis and mules and breakins) just feels empty.
Meh. Has some nice turns periodically, but can't help but feel pretty slight at the end of the day.
Entertaining. Clever; almost too clever.
