A Hologram for the King

Directionless. Probably the best part of this book is the title. It incorrectly insinuates some SciFi plot. Instead, the contemporary story revolves around a close-to-retirement, failed consultant. His one final chance is to use a network connection to secure a Middle East business contract. However, his presentation is low priority and he must wait an unknown amount of days or weeks for his opportunity. The book is filled with the irrelevant events until his meeting. By far the worst book my club has selected :(

Themes:
Going to the tent everyday
Tumor
Suicide neighbor
Insomnia
Colleagues
Ex wife
Father
Yousef
Doctor
King

This is the first book I've read by Eggers, and I went into this book with a chip on my shoulder. The effusive praise for his work was something of a red flag for me–I tend to read fiction through the lenses of feminism and social justice, and so many critically acclaimed male authors tend to disappoint when read that way. When the central character, a middle-aged white businessman runs into a colorful local in Saudi Arabia who becomes his driver, I wanted to put the book down. “Wacky local Saudi Arabian cab driver” just seemed like a poor setup. And it's true that there is still the whiff of the “magical negro” here, a kind of Driving Miss Daisy for a dude traveling around Saudi Arabia. But it's also true that Eggers gives so much interesting life to these characters (and others in the book) that such a character ploy isn't as distracting as it usually is.

There's just a lot here, in a fairly slim book. Lots of levels of relationships: Between people, between people and their countries, between daily life and existential angst. Despite its flaws (how about a book about the driver?), I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I don't think I'll jump to read the next Eggers book (particularly now that it looks like he may have been stealing ideas from a woman author https://theboykings.squarespace.com/tbk-the-circle/), but if some friends have one they really loved, I will likely give it a read.

SIGH. I mean I probably wouldn't have picked this up at all if it hadn't been written by Dave Eggers, who I LOVE. But I always forget that I prefer his memoirs and books based more directly on true stories (Zeitoun, What is the What) to his straight-up fiction. Like pieces of this were obviously based on reality.

I guess ultimately Eggers's project with this is to humanize the upper class white dudes who sent factories overseas but maybe I'm not that interested in that project, which is a moral failing on my part I suppose.

Of course it is well written, of course it is beautiful, but ultimately I just did not care super much about Alan and his family. OH WELLZ

There is nothing that makes me happier than picking up a book, reading a couple of pages, and knowing in my heart that the book is going to be a wonderful read.

A Hologram for the King is such a book.

The plot is thin: a Death-of-a-Salesman middle-aged fellow is in Saudi, waiting to see the king, hoping to sell the king on a business idea. Not much happens. The days are hot. Our main character, Alan Clay, is stuck in a tent that isn't air conditioned and lacks an Internet connection with two young hotshot assistants. Each day, he checks to see if the king is ready to see him; the king never is. Behind the scenes, Alan's life is crumbling a little more every day. Everything rests on seeing the king and having the king accept the proposal.

As soon as I finished it, I started thinking of people who might should read it. I started telling people about it.

What about you? Have you read this book? If not, you need to read it now.