You Shall Know Our Velocity

Back in 1999, an exciting new young writer stormed up the American bestseller lists with his memoir, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. Dave Eggers quickly became established as a cult literary figure, with all the attendant characteristics - quirkiness, a desire for solitude and, naturally, a marked reluctance to give interviews. His first foray into fiction recounts the adventures of two young American boys who decide to travel round the world in a week, giving away large sums of money on the way. Part road story, part philosophical analysis of the minefield that is charitable giving, the result is highly original and moves at an almost manic pace as Will and Hand frantically try to achieve their ambition of traversing the globe in a week. The catalyst for all this frenetic energy is the death of their childhood friend, Jack, in a car accident. Will has also come into a vast sum of money from modelling for a light-bulb company, and overcome by grief and guilt at Jack's death, he resolves to give all his effortlessly earned income away to the needy. Will and Hand abandon their early attempts at an itinerary as time and again they are frustrated by aeroplane timetables and visa requirements, eventually beginning their madcap tour in Senegal before moving on to Morocco and Estonia. Are the two boys embarking on this mission of mercy to salve their own consciences? Will spends much of the book inside his own head, reliving the horrors of Jack's death and his own subsequent beating at the hands of a gang of thugs as well as wrestling with the problem of how to decide who should receive his money. The arbitrariness of his choices seems to depend on the personality of the recipient - there are fistfuls of cash for Denis who supports the Chicago Bulls but nothing for his obnoxious brother Pierre. Hand lives up to his name as he turns out to be the practical one of the pair, more in tune with his physical needs for sleep, food, warmth and sex, and more pragmatic about the way they are going to actually hand over their largesse, whether by taping it to a Senegalese donkey, handing it to prostitutes or burying it in an Estonian forest. But in the end it is up to the reader to take what he wants from Eggers's multi-layered novel. Is it ultimately about Eggers himself and the way he has dealt with his unexpected celebrity, or is it simply the tale of two confused, unhappy youngsters trying to do good in a world where being charitable is not as easy as at first appears? (Kirkus UK)