A tipster has pointed us to a mention of what seems to be a new Dave Eggers novel on the back cover of a catalog from a Dutch publisher. the title translates loosely to A Hologram for the King. A description from a Dutch bookselling site (again translated poorly by Google Translate) suggest that the book will follow an American in Saudi Arabia where he tries to sell holographic technology to King Abdullah. We’ve seen no other mentions of this book anywhere, and so far McSweeney’s hasn’t responded to our questions. Anyone out there know more?
Is a New Dave Eggers Novel on the Way?
The Cows
A German cow named Yvonne escaped her impending trip to a slaughterhouse and soon became a national icon. In the wake of public outcry, officials have called off the search for her. Elsewhere, Lydia Davis is probably regretting that this story broke after she published her bovine chapbook The Cows.
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“To do so, I felt, would be too dangerous”
Over at Electric Literature, Tara Isabella Burton likens the experience of reading her ex’s favorite book – in this case Stefan Zweig’s Beware of Pity – to “rifling through someone’s letters after a death.”
Careless Drivers
Can’t keep track of who is driving which car in The Great Gatsby? Pop Chart Lab made a chart of the comings and goings of the novel’s characters via trains, cars, and feet.
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An Imagined Country
“The immigrant who arrives too late in life to adapt to his new country, but too early to survive on nostalgia for the old country, has to create a third, imagined country to live in.” Peter Pomerantsev writes for the London Review of Books about Brighton Beach, Russian immigrants and a “self-made America.” Pair with Matthew Wolfson‘s review of Yelena Akhtiorskaya‘s novel of Brighton Beach and Odessa, Panic in a Suitcase.
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McCarthy’s Inspiration
Cormac McCarthy is inspired by scientists, but did you know the author inspires drone doom bands?
Max – At the Antiquarian Book Show show in Manhattan two weeks ago, I saw a copy of the unpublished Hologram for the King ms for sale at a booth by http://lopezbooks.com/ for $350. It was marked as a copy that had been sent to the National Book Awards for consideration? It seemed pretty strange to me, and I wasn’t entirely sure I believed that was the source… and didn’t know how legit it was to be selling it at the fair either. But that was the title and it looked fairly real at least!
He had a piece in McSweeney’s 38 titled “Chapter One,” which was about an American businessman in Saudi Arabia trying to get an audience with the king. It didn’t get into holograms, but definitely sounds like the same novel.