You Shall Know Our Velocity (YSKOV) by Dave Eggers, intrigued me. It is full of deep thoughts, interwoven themes and psychological questions about the meaning of life, death and relationships - but interestingly, is written in an easy going, road trip style that surprisingly holds many comic moments.

The first sentence:

"Everything within takes place after Jack died and before my mom and I drowned in a burning ferry in the cool Tannin-tinted Guaviare River, in East Central Colombia, with forty-two locals we hadn't yet met."

So from the beginning, it's clear that heavy things will ensue.

A rambling yet engrossing flow of prose and smooth quick passages of dialogue mark YSKOV as a unique novel, and one that will leave you with an appreciation of Egger's creativity and novel writing techniques. YSKOV is reminiscent of "On the Road," in some aspects (minus the drugs), and if you enjoyed that book, then you will probably enjoy this story of two friends traveling around the globe at a whirlwind pace. Will, the main character and book's narrator, doesn't explain much to the reader regarding what's happening. Essentially what readers learn in the first few pages is that Will has in his possession about $40,000 that he wants to get rid of, so he takes a week off from work and plans to travel around the world, giving the money away as he goes. His good friend Hand agrees to go with him. And that's about it for the plot. The book focuses on their week abroad, and when, how and why they give away the money. The reader learns where the money came from but is only given hints about why Will wants to be rid of it and why he chooses to give it away in the manner that he does. More important to the story is Will's coping with Jack's recent death, how he manages to deal with it, and how that ties in to plot. Will finds/reveals no clear answers to his personal dilemmas by the books' conclusion...or then again, maybe he does.

YSKOV is written in a freshly original manner. Some of my favorite authors include drawings and/or handwriting in their books (Stephen King, Kurt Vonnegut); Dave Eggers also employs this stand-apart technique. Various visuals, such as a photo of the note that Hand attaches to wads of money, are sprinkled throughout the book. These provide an unexpected form of comic relief while making the story and characters more concrete in the mind of the reader. Eggers includes much dialogue both in internal and external forms. The reader learns the most about Will from the internal dialogue that he has with himself, cleverly written by Eggers. In these passages, Will argues in his head with other people. I.e. In response to his own internal comments, Will supplies the other person's half of the dialogue. For example, in this excerpt, Will engages in and explains his internal thought patterns: