You Shall Know Our Velocity [Hardcover]

Dave Eggers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 27, 2003

Will and Hand, two young Americans, decide to travel around the world handing over large amounts of money to those who need it. This trip will, they hope, be an answer to the overwhelming grief they feel after their friend's death. But, as they soon find out, nothing is quite so simple.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Hamish Hamilton (February 27, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0241142288
• ISBN-13: 978-0241142288
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #952,402 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dave Eggers is the author of six previous books, including "Zeitoun," a nonfiction account a Syrian-American immigrant and his extraordinary experience during Hurricane Katrina and "What Is the What," a finalist for the 2006 National Book Critics Circle Award. That book, about Valentino Achak Deng, a survivor of the civil war in southern Sudan, gave birth to the Valentino Achak Deng Foundation, run by Mr. Deng and dedicated to building secondary schools in southern Sudan. Eggers is the founder and editor of McSweeney's, an independent publishing house based in San Francisco that produces a quarterly journal, a monthly magazine ("The Believer"), and "Wholphin," a quarterly DVD of short films and documentaries. In 2002, with Nínive Calegari he co-founded 826 Valencia, a nonprofit writing and tutoring center for youth in the Mission District of San Francisco. Local communities have since opened sister 826 centers in Chicago, Los Angeles, Brooklyn, Ann Arbor, Seattle, and Boston. In 2004, Eggers taught at the University of California-Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, and there, with Dr. Lola Vollen, he co-founded Voice of Witness, a series of books using oral history to illuminate human rights crises around the world. A native of Chicago, Eggers graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in journalism. He now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and two children.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring, Gripping, Melancholy - A novel you will always remember, September 25, 2010

By 

Bryan B. "In the depth of winter, I finally l... (Hartford, CT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: You Shall Know Our Velocity (Hardcover)

You Shall Know Our Velocity by Dave Eggers is a wholly brilliant work of fiction. The concept itself is ingenius; two friends travel around the globe (not quite fully around as planned) to give away roughly $32,000 to people who need it. How he comes into the money, I'll leave that for the readers. Some of the ways they distribute the money are pretty entertaining, like trying to tape a wad of cash to a goat (obviously wanting the owner to find it) with a note that says "Here I Am - Rock You Like a Hurricane", just pure reading entertainment. The trip doesn't quite go as planned, they cannot hit all the destinations they want (mainly Cairo) and have some trouble because they can't enter countries which require visas, but the journey and the events are incredible- The writing is truly a joy to read. There is also more to this book than I've described, it really is filled with melancholy undertones that will move you. Will and Hand are the two friends who take the journey, the real purpose of the trip is for them to escape, to just get away for a week- because their other best friend has died six months prior- they often reminisce about their friend Jack and his life, Will is really tortured by the loss of Jack and this continuously resurfaces. The story is very touching, and at the same time hilarious in spots, definitely not one to miss out on. This is one of the best novels I've read in a long time, and I read everything.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Novel, May 8, 2008

By 

C. Bernardo (Colorado) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: You Shall Know Our Velocity (Hardcover)

You Shall Know Our Velocity is a story about humanity more than it is a story about the world. Readers quickly get to know and relate to the characters, even before knowing their stories. Written with Egger's wonderfully fluid way of weaving a story and a person together. Incredibly enjoyable to read and travel through.