Contrapposto

A sweeping novel about friendship, love, and the lifelong pursuit of art from Dave Eggers, the award-winning, bestselling author of Cricket Dib, born on the American prairie, has no particular prospects or ambitions until, in grade school, he realizes he can draw. He soon meets a girl, Olympia;Argyros, one year older, who is captivating and brilliant and far more worldly. Recognizing his talent, she convinces him to deface, with profound vulgarity, a popular playground. Under her direction, he does it willingly, already in love, and thus begins a sixty-five-year entwining between Cricket and Olympia, encompassing friendship, working partnership and love affair. Together they go to art school--an experience of dubious value--and then navigate the art world for the next fifty years, together and apart. The novel is a wild and beautiful examination of the rules and market forces of the art world, but chiefly it’s about two friends who believe they can change that world, and bring new meaning to it, 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.

Autorentext
DAVE EGGERS is the author of The Circle, The Monk of Mokha, A Hologram for the King, What Is the What, and The Museum of Rain, among other books. He is the cofounder of 826 National, a network of youth writing centers, and Art + Water, a nonprofit visual art hub on San Francisco’s waterfront. A classically trained artist and 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 and the American Book Award. In 2024, The Eyes and the Impossible was awarded the Newbery Medal.

daveeggers.net

Klappentext

NATIONAL BESTSELLER · THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS' CHOICE • A sweeping novel about friendship, love, and the lifelong pursuit of art from Dave Eggers, the award-winning, bestselling author of The Circle, A Hologram for the King, and The Eyes & the Impossible

“Glorious and captivating, with Eggers’ signature humor 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, author of Heart the Lover

“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 cliché, so let’s say undulating, with both despair and hope.” —Alexandra Jacobs, The New York Times Book Review

Cricket Dib, born on the American prairie, has no particular prospects or ambitions until, in grade school, he realizes he can draw. He soon meets a girl, Olympia Argyros, one year older, who is captivating and brilliant and far more worldly. Recognizing his talent, she convinces him to deface, with profound vulgarity, a popular playground. Under her direction, he does it willingly, already in love, and thus begins a sixty-five-year entwining between Cricket and Olympia, encompassing friendship, working partnership and love affair. Together they go to art school—an experience of dubious value—and then navigate the art world for the next fifty years, together and apart.

Contrapposto is a moving and very funny novel about allies and art, and what it means to be an artist. All through their lives, Cricket sees Olympia as his soulmate and destiny, and while she is always his champion, romantically her eyes are always seeking something—and someone—else. Their love changes over the decades, but their commitment to each other, and their search for meaning in the making of art, never wanes. The novel spans the globe, from New York to Thailand, Indiana to Paris, and follows Cricket and Olympia through sickness and health, war and death.

The novel is a wild and beautiful examination of the rules and market forces of the art world, but chiefly it’s about two friends who believe they can change that world, and bring new meaning to it, 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.

Leseprobe
The next day, at eleven, Cricket was at home when he saw a boxy compact car, painted a burnt orange, pull into the driveway. His mother was out front getting the newspaper when Olympia swept out of her car and strode fear­lessly toward her, hand extended. Olympia was wearing a loose sunflower-yellow blouse and a flowing white skirt. Cricket stepped outside to intervene but wasn’t quick enough.

“I’m Olympia,” she said, and shook his mother’s hand firmly. “We’ve met. At the Romanians’. I took piano.”

No friend of his had ever introduced themselves this way, so directly, so professionally.

“That was you!” his mother said. “Now look at you. You’re a woman!”

Olympia smiled, clearly accustomed to comments like this.

“We’re heading to the track,” Olympia said. “Want to come?”

There were a hundred responses possible, most of them shocked or dis­pleased, but his mother laughed. She was disarmed, rendered mute. “The track? Like the racetrack?”

“Don’t worry, I never gamble,” Olympia said. “It’s just to watch the colors in motion. You should come! It’s such a nice day.”

His mother was struck dumb again. She looked to the front porch, where she found Cricket; he had no idea what to do or say. “Well,” she finally said. “That is a tempting invitation, Olympia. You guys go. Have fun.”

Olympia tapped the roof of her car and Cricket got in.

“When will you be home?” his mother asked. She was frozen in the driveway.

“Last race is at three forty-five,” Olympia said from the driver’s-side win­dow, while backing away, “so an hour after that? But we might have dinner. Do you need him at a certain hour?”

Cricket’s mom shook her head and waved her hand listlessly.

“You enjoy the day now!” Olympia said. She left the driveway and was soon on the highway. The car smelled of spicy deodorant and watermelon gum and something old and stale— a stain somewhere that hadn’t come out. Her car was a stick shift, and Olympia shoved the wood-topped shifter around with authority, occasionally brushing Cricket’s knee when she did.

“It’s so hot today, right?” Olympia said, and took the hem of her skirt and flapped it like a sparrow’s wing. He caught a flash of her pink, freckled calf.

“Are we really going to the track?” he asked.

“You’ve never been?” Olympia asked. “I like your mom. She seems sweet. You got your braces off. Didn’t you have braces? Have you been doing this?” She ran her tongue over the bright surface of her teeth.

He told her about Dr. Talmadge as the landscape flew by.

“What a dick,” she said. “You want me to kill him for you?”

The day was bright and warm and he stole glances at her when she spoke, trying to find any part of her that resembled the girl he’d known before.

“You look different,” she said. “Your ha…