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You shall know our velocity
480 pages
A frantic, darkly funny, and deeply bruised sprint across the globe in a desperate attempt to outrun grief.
What it feels like
Reading this novel feels like being strapped into a wildly unpredictable, emotionally raw road trip with a brilliant but deeply wounded friend. Driven by a manic, restless energy, the narrative hurtles across continents, masking its profound sorrow beneath layers of absurd humor and hyper-articulate philosophical tangents. The prose is kinetic and digressive, mirroring the frantic headspace of someone trying to buy their way out of survivor's guilt. It is a deeply melancholic yet surprisingly funny experience, capturing the messy, illogical ways we process the sudden absence of someone we love. This book will resonate with readers who love neurotic, big-hearted fiction where the desperate search for meaning collides with the messy realities of the world.
- Mood
- restless
- melancholic
- manic
- absurd
- Tone
- frantic
- wry
- earnest
- darkly comedic
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- survivor's guilt · the burden of grief · limits of altruism · fractured male friendship · wealth disparity
- The writing
- Kinetic, digressive, and hyper-articulate, blending sharp observational humor with raw, tumbling streams of consciousness.
- The arc
- A manic, desperate flight from sorrow that gradually exhausts itself into a quiet, bruised acceptance of the unfixable nature of loss.
- Who it's for
- Readers who appreciate neurotic, deeply felt explorations of grief masked by absurd, globe-trotting antics and hyperactive prose.
Content notes
- grief
- death of a friend
- car accident
- depression
About the book
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.
Description from Open Library.
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