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A Novel
by Dave Eggers
Book Reviewed by:A sweeping novel about friendship, love, and the lifelong pursuit of art from Dave Eggers, the award-winning, bestselling author of The Circle, Hologram for the King, and The Eyes & the Impossible.
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 Cambodia, 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.
Excerpt
Contrapposto
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 fear¬lessly 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 dis¬pleased, but his mother laughed. She was disarmed, rendered mute. "The track? Like the racetrack?"
"Don't worry, I never gamble,"...
What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? (6/11/2026)
This week I read https://www.bookbrowse.com/bb_briefs/detail/index.cfm/ezine_preview_number/24510/contrapposto Contrapposto by Dave Eggers for review. It's about two friends who meet as children and have an on-and-off relationship for the next 60 years. It's got some beautiful writing an...
-kim.kovacs
What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? (6/4/2026)
...by Emily Henry (jury's still out on that one). Next up, https://www.bookbrowse.com/bb_briefs/detail/index.cfm/ezine_preview_number/24510/contrapposto Contrapposto by Dave Eggers for review, and https://www.bookbrowse.com/bb_briefs/detail/index.cfm/ezine_preview_number/25857/merrygoround-broke-down Merry-Go-Round Broke Down fo...
-kim.kovacs
The story unfolds from the point of view of Robert "Cricket" Dibbs. An introspective child who finds solace in art, he encounters Olympia, who pressures him to put his artistic talent to use (granted, it's just in coercing him to vandalize playground equipment, but still). Once he's done her bidding, she disappears. This pattern repeats throughout the seven sections of the novel—Olympia suddenly appears in Cricket's life, pushes him artistically, and then is on her way; she's not so much muse as catalyst. Each chapter, separated by years when the pair don't see each other, reflects a key moment in Cricket's life as he struggles to establish a career creating works of art. The strength of the novel is Eggers's two diametrically opposed characters. Olympia is dynamic and capricious, always unpredictable; she's a whirlwind, a being in constant motion. Cricket, on the other hand, is quiet and humble, sometimes a dreamer, sometimes a realist. Although completely devoted to Olympia, he's always clear-eyed about her and their relationship. He can seem incredibly naïve or wise beyond his years, depending on the situation. Both characters are finely drawn, but Cricket in particular is one of the most three-dimensional creations I've encountered in a long time...continued
Full Review
(761 words)
(Reviewed by Kim Kovacs).
Lily King, author of Heart the Lover
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. Tommy Orange, author of Wandering Stars
This is a portrait of an artist as a young man, but then on through life, to the end, told by one of our finest artists. With Contrapposto, Dave Eggers gives us, generously and precisely, clear and bright, a story about why we create, and how we love.The protagonist of Dave Eggers's novel Contrapposto is Cricket Dibb, a talented young man who wants a career as an artist. Throughout the book he relays his sheer bliss in creating a work of art he knows is good. In spite of his ability, he runs into roadblocks; galleries won't hang his work because they don't feel it's commercial enough.
Eggers writes convincingly about the joys and challenges an artist might face, in part because he himself once aspired to become a painter. He showed talent at an early age; in an interview with Juxtapoz, an art and culture magazine, he states that:
"When I was young, I was sent around to have extra enrichment training, because when I was seven or eight, some teacher said, '...
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