Dave Eggers’ next adult novel—almost two decades in the making—is coming in 2026, People magazine reports.
Knopf will publish the author’s Contrapposto next spring. The press describes the book as “a sweeping novel about friendship, love, and the lifelong pursuit of art.”
Eggers famously made his literary debut in 2000 with his memoir A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, which was a No. 1 New York Times bestseller and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He followed that up two years later with a novel, You Shall Know Our Velocity.
He has gone on to write several more novels, including A Hologram for the King, The Circle, The Parade, and The Every, and children’s books including This Bridge Will Not Be Gray, illustrated by Tucker Nichols; Faraway Things, illustrated by Kelly Murphy; and the Newbery Medal–winning The Eyes & the Impossible, illustrated by Shawn Harris.
Contrapposto will follow the long friendship between Cricket Dib and Olympia Argyros, who meet in grade school and both become artists. Knopf says 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.”
Eggers told People that he has been writing about the characters for nearly 20 years. “Sometimes a certain book takes an especially long time to gestate and make its correct form known. When I arrived at the idea of having the book in seven sections, each leaping ahead in years, it felt like I’d arrived at the book’s right shape."
Contrapposto is slated for publication on June 9, 2026.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
