Another heartbreaking work of staggering genius?

Dave Eggers follows up his acclaimed memoir, A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genius, and fuels his penchant for lengthy titles with his first work of fiction. But just how big this jump from fact to fantasy actually is remains debatable.

Velocity takes on a personal, almost confessional tone as the narrator Will and his friend Hand travel round the world in a week, dispensing Will’s $80,000 windfall to less fortunate folks. And that’s about it, plotwise. Instead, the book coasts on what’s going on inside Will’s head after his morale’s taken a bashing from the death of his best friend, and then, literally, at the hands of thugs who mangled his features.

Full of stylistic devices and internal dialogues, the book takes flight from some repetitive plotting, with moments of linguistic acrobatics and some pause-for-reflection insight. Eggers has a strong grip on how grief and guilt can wreak havoc inside a person’s head. And while Will and Hand’s journey is sometimes like following someone’s guilt-fuelled gap year, the verve and sheer energy of his writing is worth the price of the ticket. Laura Bushell 28 February 03

You Shall Know Our Velocity, published by Hamish Hamilton.