Dave Eggers Books in Order

Where to Start Reading Dave Eggers

Dave Eggers is a remarkably versatile American author whose work spans from raw, self-referential memoir to high-concept tech satire, historical fiction, children's books, and narrative journalism. Because his style shifts so dramatically between projects, the best place to start depends entirely on your reading preferences:

• For the Classic Eggers Experience: Start with A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (2000). This Pulitzer Prize-finalist memoir is the book that launched his career. It is a creative, meta-fictional, and deeply moving account of raising his younger brother after the sudden deaths of their parents.
• For Tech Dystopia and Social Satire: Start with The Circle (2013). This page-turning novel explores the dark side of social media, data privacy, and corporate monopoly, making it his most culturally prominent work of fiction.
• For Empathetic Human Stories: Start with What Is the What (2006). A fictionalized autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng, one of the "Lost Boys of Sudan," this masterpiece showcases Eggers's unique ability to channel real-world struggles into compelling narrative art.
• For Award-Winning All-Ages Fiction: Start with The Eyes and the Impossible (2023). Winning the prestigious 2024 Newbery Medal, this beautifully told story of a free dog named Johannes living in an urban park appeals to both children and adults.

The Circle Series (The Surveillance Duology)

While most of Eggers's novels are standalone works, he has written one major interconnected series that tackles the terrifying trajectory of modern technology, surveillance capitalism, and consumer convenience.

1. The Circle (2013)

The story follows Mae Holland, a young college graduate who lands a job at the Circle, a powerful tech monopoly that links users' personal emails, social media, banking, and purchasing into one unified online identity. As Mae rises through the corporate ranks, the novel explores the erosion of privacy and the rise of total transparency.

2. The Every (2021)

Set a few years after the events of the first book, the Circle has merged with the world's dominant e-commerce giant to form "the Every." The story follows Delaney Wells, a new hire who attempts to destroy the company from the inside by proposing increasingly invasive and ridiculous apps, only to find that consumers eagerly embrace them.

Reading Order Caveat: While The Every features a new protagonist and can technically be read as a standalone, we highly recommend reading The Circle first. Doing so gives you the foundational context of how this dystopian world came to be and makes the satirical evolution in the sequel far more impactful.

Dave Eggers' Standalone Fiction

Eggers's standalone novels range from global travelogues to quiet character studies and political satires. They can be read in any order, but looking at them chronologically shows his growth as a novelist:

• You Shall Know Our Velocity! (2002): Eggers's debut novel follows two friends who travel the world attempting to give away a sum of money to random people. (Note: An expanded version was published in 2003 under the title Sacrament).
• Hello Children (2006): A brief, scarce booklet published by McSweeney's. The title refers to a textbook used in Sudanese refugee camps, serving as an developmental precursor to his next major novel.
• What Is the What (2006): A deeply researched, biographical novel documenting the harrowing journey of Valentino Achak Deng from war-torn Sudan to the United States.
• The Wild Things (2009): A novelization and expansion of Maurice Sendak's classic children's book, written in conjunction with Spike Jonze's film adaptation.
• A Hologram for the King (2012): A tragicomic novel about a struggling American businessman attempting to sell a holographic teleconferencing system to the King of Saudi Arabia. It was adapted into a 2016 film starring Tom Hanks.
• We Like You So Much and Want to Know You Better (2013): A short, satirical look at modern communication and social validation.
• Your Fathers, Where Are They? And the Prophets, Do They Live Forever? (2014): Told entirely in dialogue, this short novel focuses on a disillusioned young man who kidnaps various people to demand answers to life's injustices.
• Heroes of the Frontier (2016): A mother takes her two children on a chaotic RV road trip through the wilderness of Alaska to escape her collapsing life.
• The Lifters (2018): A whimsical middle-grade adventure about a boy who discovers a subterranean world responsible for holding up the earth above.
• The Parade (2019): A tense, minimalist fable about two unnamed contractors building a road connecting the northern and southern halves of a recently reconciled nation.
• The Captain and the Glory: An Entertainment (2019): A sharp, allegorical farce poking fun at contemporary American politics and leadership.
• The Eyes and the Impossible (2023): The story of Johannes, a dog who runs like the wind and acts as the "eyes" of a park, observing the complex lives of its animals and human visitors.

Memoirs and Narrative Nonfiction

Eggers's nonfiction works are just as renowned as his novels, frequently focusing on human rights, education, and systemic crises:

• A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (2000): Part memoir, part post-modern experiment, this book blends deep grief with self-aware humor, laying the groundwork for Eggers's literary voice.
• Zeitoun (2009): The true story of Abdulrahman Zeitoun, a Syrian-American contractor who stayed in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina to help neighbors, only to be swept up in a Kafkaesque post-crisis incarceration system.
• The Monk of Mokha (2018): The incredible true story of Mokhtar Alkhanshali, a young Yemeni-American man who risks his life to resurrect the ancient art of Yemeni coffee farming amidst a civil war.

Complete Publication Order Checklist

The Circle Series

1. The Circle (2013)
2. The Every (2021)

Standalone Novels & Novellas

1. You Shall Know Our Velocity! (2002)
2. Hello Children (2006)
3. What Is the What (2006)
4. The Wild Things (2009)
5. A Hologram for the King (2012)
6. The Story of Captain Nemo (2013) [Part of the "Save the Story" series, retelling Jules Verne for young readers]
7. We Like You So Much and Want to Know You Better (2013)
8. Your Fathers, Where Are They? And the Prophets, Do They Live Forever? (2014)
9. Heroes of the Frontier (2016)
10. The Lifters (2018)
11. The Parade (2019)
12. The Captain and the Glory: An Entertainment (2019)
13. The Eyes and the Impossible (2023)

Short Story Collections & Mini-Books

1. How We Are Hungry (2005)
2. Short Short Stories (2005)
3. One Hundred and Forty Five Stories in a Small Box (2007)
4. The Museum of Rain (2021)

Nonfiction Works

1. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (2000)
2. Teachers Have It Easy (2005)
3. Surviving Justice: America's Wrongfully Convicted and Exonerated (2005)
4. Zeitoun (2009)
5. America: Now and Here (2010)
6. It Is Right to Draw Their Fur (2010)
7. David Shrigley (2012)
8. An Innocent Abroad: Life-Changing Trips from 35 Great Writers (2014)
9. Visitants (2015)
10. Better than Fiction 2 (2015)
11. This Bridge Will Not Be Gray (2015)
12. Her Right Foot (2017)
13. Ungrateful Mammals (2017)
14. The Monk of Mokha (2018)
15. What Can a Citizen Do? (2018)
16. Most of the Better Natural Things in the World (2019)