'A book of profundity, humanity and ravishing beauty - the only kind of book I want to read' - ANDREW SEAN GREER

'Glorious and captivating, with Eggers' signature humour and precision, Contrapposto tells a big and big-hearted story that counter-positions exquisitely the pain and exhilarations of love and the creative impulse. I loved this novel' - LILY KING

'This book speaks to my heart. With wit, wisdom, and deep empathy, Contrapposto asks all the hard questions that haunt and enliven a creative life - about art and beauty, about commerce and class, about the cost of passion and the price of success' - RUTH OZEKI

Cricket is just a shy kid who likes drawing when he first meets Olympia. She's older, more confident; she bullies him into some light vandalism and instantly he's in love. When they're together, they talk about their futures, how they're going to travel the world, the beauty and rapture of art.

Then those futures start to arrive in unexpected ways, the years and decades pile up between them, the art world seduces and disappoints and frustrates them. And they have to figure out, again and again, what it is to be an artist, and who and what to love.

This is a wild and beautiful novel about two friends who believe they can change the world, if only they can start their own movement, dodge charlatans, remain open-eyed and open-hearted, avoid going mad, avoid dying young of rare cancers, stay true to their ideals and never tire of beauty. Not easy, but not impossible, either.

About the Author

Dave Eggers is the author of many books, among them The Every, The Circle, The Monk of Mokha, A Hologram for the King, What Is the What, and The Museum of Rain. He is the cofounder of 826 National, a network of youth writing centers, and Voice of Witness, an oral history book series that illuminates the stories of those impacted by human rights crises. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Eggers has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award, and is the recipient of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, the American Book Award and the Newbery Medal, for the most distinguished contribution to children's literature with The Eyes and the Impossible.
daveeggers.net

Reviews
Contrapposto answers the question, "Why are novels irreplaceable?" From page one, I fell in love with its perfectly flawed characters, its big beating heart, its brain and its language. What a sublime act of fiction -- DAVID MITCHELL
I've seldom read a book so engaging as Contrapposto. Eggers writes with a narrative sure-footedness that is very attractive, his central characters both fully alive and at the same time almost completely mysterious. The story's focus is on the visual arts, and love, and both, and its touch is no heavier than a hummingbird's. I couldn't see how he did it -- PHILIP PULLMAN
Contrapposto is an earthy, warm return to form . . . A novel of ideas, exploring the meaning of art and the unfairness, pretensions and occasional skullduggery of the art world * * New York Times * *
Dave Eggers has written a big-hearted, deeply moving story about the choices artists make, or don't make, to square up their own notions of success and happiness * * Los Angeles Times * *
Glorious and captivating, with Eggers' signature humour and precision, Contrapposto tells a big and big-hearted story that counter-positions exquisitely the pain and exhilarations of love and the creative impulse. I loved this novel -- LILY KING
This is a portrait of an artist as a young man, but then on through life, to the end, told by one of our finest artists. With Contrapposto, Dave Eggers gives us, generously and precisely, clear and bright, a story about why we create, and how we love -- TOMMY ORANGE
This book speaks to my heart. With wit, wisdom, and deep empathy, Contrapposto asks all the hard questions that haunt and enliven a creative life - about art and beauty, about commerce and class, about the cost of passion and the price of success -- RUTH OZEKI
A book of profundity, humanity and ravishing beauty - the only kind of book I want to read -- ANDREW SEAN GREER, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of LESS
Dave Eggers' new novel Contrapposto begins with a simple question: What is art? The answer turns out to be a stunning high-wire act and, boy, does Eggers stick the landing. Better yet, the book is a love story that just won't quit -- RICHARD RUSSO
Contrapposto is extraordinary, a lucid and passionate Kunstlerroman and a drawing of the negative space around the contemporary art world. Cricket, given great talent and passion, is also a quiet rebel: his inability to agree to any of the small compromises necessary to become a big name is what keeps his art a pure, good, white-hot thing -- LAUREN GROFF
Wonderful - both gentle and gripping, simple and profound, personal and universal - I feel so very glad to have read it. Contrapposto is a kind novel; good-hearted, alive and alert to possibility and beauty in all situations -- CATHY RENTZENBRINK
Contrapposto is, unashamedly, an old-fashioned novel about creativity - what it's for, who gets to access it, and why one might want to engage with it at all. . . And in its attention to the human joy of making things and making meanings, it shows how good might just mean good enough * * Financial Times * *
An insightful, caustically funny, at times tragic, and truly profound inquiry into the making and meaning of art * * Booklist * *
Eggers has been a reliably inventive, big-swing storyteller with a knack for mixing heart, humoUr, and a little cultural side-eye . . . What begins as a grade-school act of vandalism becomes a 65-year entanglement of friendship, collaboration, and longing * * Oprah Daily * *
The inimitable Dave Eggers returns with a book about life, love and art, featuring the classically trained artist's own work . . . So begins 50 years of dancing around the art world and each other as they search for love, meaning, loyalty and more * * People Magazine * *
A tour de force * * Publisher's Weekly * *
A tender, searching novel for readers still devastated by Sally Rooney's Normal People * * Library Journal * *
Contrapposto is by turns wistful and humorous, a wide-angle, wholly absorbing study of deep friendship and making meaning through art * * Alta * *
A pleasure from start to finish . . . This is a big-hearted, funny novel about friendship and art - more intimate than his usual style, but with the rich characterisation and commentary Eggers is known for. A pleasure to get lost in and a hard one to forget * * Good Housekeeping * *
A romantic epic -- Samira Ahmed * * BBC Front Row * *
Brilliant. A novel of ideas as well as a love story . . . read this moving, clever, fine novel. -- STUART KELLY * * Scotsman * *
In this satisfyingly old-school novel, an artist tries to find his place, and hold onto his spark, in a world that values fads and flash. . . . Contrapposto is an earthy, warm return to form . . . . To call the book 'moving' would be a smelly cliche, so let's say undulating, with both despair and hope -- ALEXANDRA JACOBS * * New York Times * *
Eggers has written a big-hearted, deeply moving story about the choices artists make, or don't make, to square up their own notions of success and happiness . . . As Contrapposto arrives at its beautiful, life-affirming conclusion, we are left pondering the significance of artistic endeavour in a world that commodifies everything, including our bodies and brains. At a time when even the greatest achievements are debased in a culture that gives equal weight to meretricious novelty, is it even worth the trouble? Eggers' brilliant novel has the answer: Follow your bliss. In the final analysis, it is all that matters * * Los Angeles Times * *
Contrapposto is a rare thing, a smart book about the joy of being creative and open to everything * * Chicago Tribune * *
A moving, humane and witty portrait of the lifelong friendship * * San Francisco Chronicle * *
Eggers has been a reliably inventive, big-swing storyteller with a knack for mixing heart, humor, and a little cultural side-eye . . . What begins as a grade-school act of vandalism becomes a 65-year entanglement of friendship, collaboration, and longing * * Oprah Daily * *
The inimitable Dave Eggers returns with a book about life, love and art, featuring the classically trained artist's own work . . . So begins 50 years of dancing around the art world and each other as they search for love, meaning, loyalty and more * * People Magazine * *



Book Information
ISBN 9781837266807
Author Dave Eggers
Format Hardback
Page Count 432
Imprint Canongate Books
Publisher Canongate Books
Weight(grams) 656g
Dimensions(mm) 240mm * 159mm * 36mm