Contrapposto
Eggers has written a big-hearted, deeply moving story ... As Contapposto arrives at its beautiful, life-affirming conclusion, we are left pondering the significance of artistic endeavor in a world that commodifies everything, including our bodies and brains ... A brilliant novel.
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What a relief to be able to recommend the new Dave Eggers novel (almost!) without reservation ... An earthy, warm return to form and norm ... It is a bildungsroman and a novel of ideas, exploring the meaning of art and the unfairness, pretensions and occasional skulduggery of the art world ... Also a romance of epic and goopy proportions ... Is there anything this children’s-book-writing, nonprofit-overseeing, magazine-founding Gen X-er can’t do?
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Eggers, whose early work was celebrated for formal daring, has written a surprisingly traditional tale about the conflict between passion and the organizations that help give it shape—a book that stages rebellion while rarely risking much rebellion of its own ... Contrapposto stakes its drama on a genuine contest between two visions of the artistic life, yet it grants full humanity to only one of the contestants ... Yet Contrapposto excels as a study of the development of an artist ... A book that makes a case for artistic freedom while repeatedly reaching for inherited forms ... The writing is quite pleasurable in parts, and the conclusion is genuinely moving. But it is not a work of staggering genius.
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