A Hologram for the King

By: Dave Eggers

Narrated by: Dion Graham

Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

In a rising Saudi Arabian city, far from weary, recession-scarred America, a struggling businessman pursues a last-ditch attempt to stave off foreclosure, pay his daughter’s college tuition, and finally do something great. In A Hologram for the King, Dave Eggers takes us around the world to show how one man fights to hold himself and his splintering family together in the face of the global economy’s gale-force winds.

This taut, richly layered, and elegiac novel is a powerful evocation of our contemporary moment - and a moving story of how we got here.

©2012 Dave Eggers (P)2012 Recorded Books

Haunting

A funny and disturbing little book. I don't know what to think about it really.

Overall, a disappointment

I ordered this one on a whim, after seeing the movie preview.

I like Tom Hanks, and the story looked interesting at a glance.

Overall, the story is somewhat engaging. I spent a few chapters imagining what life in the middle east might be like and reflecting on what my life my be like when I'm an older man - like the main character of the book.

But I gave up by the middle of the (audio)book. The story plays out too slowly, is too depressing, and too sexually explicit.

It's not at all my cup of tea.

Sad but meaningful

Dave Eggers brings you on a vivid journey through the lens of this sad, pathetic character who is quite endearing. Felt like Willy Loman if today. And Dion Graham does a terrific job handling the narration.

simple yet engaging

What did you love best about A Hologram for the King?

I lived the deep description of everything and the authors ability to transform a mundane moment into a humorous emotion filled event.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

His daughter

Which scene was your favorite?

At the hotel when he observes the life coaching class

If you could rename A Hologram for the King, what would you call it?

The desert

Any additional comments?

Good book, story wasn't as impressive as the writing.

really awkward love scenes

It should come as no surprise that this is not what life is like as a western contractor in the Kingdom, even though it gets some things spookily correct.

walter mitty goes to Saudi Arabia

Insipid story of a soulless,,dickless little white american man who muddles around in Saudi Arabia, . Gets nowhere in his sales pitch and ;doesnt seem bothered by the rank sexism and classism around him. Gets lucky with 2 separate women who are lonely.. Both of them outclass him by miles in the fields of brains and common sense. He goes nowhere,; not even back home.

Subtle Paean to Emptiness, Failure & Loneliness

Sad and beautiful. Eggers captures the pain, fear and insecurity of a maturing, outsourced economy and an aging, disappointed businessman. Set in the KSA, this novel reminded me of Beckett's 'Waiting for Godot' and Miller's 'Death of a Salesman' if both had been written by a Hemingway or Mailer. 'Hologram for the King' stands as a subtle paean to the emptiness, failure, loneliness, and slow economic decay (and death) we ALL experience eventually. The best parts of this novel, for me, were the interactions Alan (the protagonist) has with his Saudi driver and his female doctor. Alan's experiences with the foreign and the exotic other illuminate just how similar we are, and how absurd our self-made mental prisons appear to those we interact with. But still -- we can't help but wait for the King and hope.

Meh. Felt unfinished. Plot is weak

Not a bad way to pass the time but this mid-life crisis was particularly compelling.

A man and his insecurities...

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Probably not. Not much to keep you engaged.

If you’ve listened to books by Dave Eggers before, how does this one compare?

n/a

Which scene was your favorite?

Visit to the mountain village.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

It is and I won't.

Any additional comments?

Just couldn't get into it.

Willie Loman for the 21st Century

Where does A Hologram for the King rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This book holds no surprises; you can see exactly where the characters are going. You cringe for the principal character as he mismanages every situation, but had he been brilliant, the mission would still have failed. Its outcome foreordained. It is an advance look at our own self portrait. The willful tossing aside of the shredded social contract(s) that used to cushiion our lives, and the hinted at future that awaits us behind the next "free trade act".

Which scene was your favorite?

The three Chinese vans parked outside the Vendors tent. Precious. Arrogance vs preparation.

If you could take any character from A Hologram for the King out to dinner, who would it be and why?

The Saudi doctor. She was the only person in the book that displayed any humanity. Also, very sexy.