Read This Book

I love Dave Eggers' books. My kids even like him. His newest novel, A Hologram for the King addresses the issues of global economics, the complexities/absurdities of modern Saudi Arabi, and modern technology. The King is King Abdullah, the city, Jeddah. The story is told by an American businessman, Alan Clay, who's lost everything and is trying for a last-chance miracle in the desert.

The writing is spare, which I both appreciated and lamented. So many modern novels seem so repetitive to me, like the author's being paid by page. Because I enjoyed the new Eggers book so much, it was too short. This isn't a criticism, just the way I feel.

Alan Clay, who is rather pathetic, has a huge mass on the back of his neck that he is convinced is cancer. One night, under the influence of strong locally-made alcohol--booze is illegal in Saudi Arabia, but everyone drinks it--he sticks a steak knife in it. He ends up at a clinic in Jeddah where a doctor declares it to be a lipoma and schedules surgical removal.

Why does Saudi Arabia, with its unimaginable wealth and ambitious plans to grow its economy to even more incredible levels, resemble Florida, or any other coastal southern area that uses a look of pink? It's not on my travel wish-list.

The book ends with disappointment for Alan, but also a measure of hope. You'll have to read it to find out how he does it.