A Tale Of Two Daves

Dave is a pretty common name. In the case of the last two books I read -- both written by authors named Dave -- it's not common that I have such a long history with their interdisciplinary prowess. These latest works by Dave Holmes and Dave Eggers are worthy reflections of their tremendous talents and their spot-on observations about life as we know it.

My familiarity with Holmes goes all the way back to 1998. That was the year when MTV launched its "Wanna Be A VJ" contest to select new, on-air personalities for the network's programming -- which at that point still primarily revolved around music. In my mind, Holmes was a no-brainer for the job; he had the ingrained knowledge and passion for the industry, and he was easygoing and charming with the interview segments. Unfortunately, Holmes took second place, upstaged and outvoted by a ridiculous flash-in-the-pan named Jesse Camp.

Thankfully, Holmes made a good enough impression that he was asked to stick around with MTV, so he was still a regular fixture on my TV screen for a few more years until moving on to other projects. I would see his name pop up from time to time (somehow, I missed it when he came out in 2002), but it wasn't until "Esquire" ran a pointed essay of his in March 2015 that Holmes once again hit my radar and stayed there. In an open letter to musician Kid Rock, he tactfully, hilariously lambasted the star for his nonchalant use of the word "gay" as an insult. Holmes' keen awareness of the cultural shift since both his and Kid's reigns on MTV made him the perfect choice to call out this offensive behavior, and it was this turning point that made me see Holmes as a brilliant writer. I've followed his contributions to "Esquire" and other outlets, both published and filmed, ever since.

Holmes' career-altering tenure at MTV is just one of many twists of fate that he tackles with poignant humor in "Party Of One: A Memoir In 21 Songs." Each chapter borrows its name from a song title that directly or indirectly summarizes that phase in his life, and occasional "interludes" transition between the chapters as lateral moves to flesh out related topics. Admittedly, I have a certain reluctance when approaching the current memoir craze, as many of the people releasing them have yet to pay the dues of a full and distinguished career. However, Holmes' influence made me think twice, and for the better: this memoir positively brims with genuine life experience. For all of his youth (he's only 45 years old), he has stories galore to tell -- and surely there are plenty more that didn't make the cut.

With his uncanny knack for equating music and period-specific references to everyday life as well as the most extraordinary of circumstances, Holmes writes a credible and authentic account of his personal journey. From coming of age and coming out to coming to terms with himself and his passions at a time of cultural realignment, he maintains a vital spirit of enthusiasm and optimism that is both welcome and infectious. He writes conversationally but efficiently, never rambling or self-aggrandizing. In the space of a single page, I would wince at the awkward, formative scenarios that usually happen in public -- who among us hasn't walked into a full-length mirror in a crowded bar? -- before laughing aloud, heartily and knowingly, at his unwavering determination to move forward, chin up. Across these 21 chapters, his witty self-deprecation gives way to admirable self-respect.

Holmes never claims to know everything and/or know better than we do about how to lead our lives, but his candor is capable of opening dialogues within ourselves and among others. "Party Of One" is an entertaining source of inspiration to readers of all ages who are looking for some much-needed guidance about how to stay true to themselves.

Sometimes, though, navigating that truth requires a fictional route. In his new novel "Heroes Of The Frontier," Eggers mines the human condition and strikes literary gold. Clearly not a stranger to this vein, he tends to address it through incredibly diverse settings. I first encountered him during college, when my friend Kim loaned me her copy of his first book, "A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genius." Drawn from his own experiences raising his younger brother, "Genius" is not a pretentious title but rather a resonant one, acknowledging and subverting the praises heaped upon people's transparencies and vulnerabilities when it's really just part of who we are and how we have or haven't grown. From there, Eggers dove into subject matter as varied as the Lost Boys of the Sudan ("What Is The What"); the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina ("Zeitoun"); the 2008 economic collapse and recession ("A Hologram For The King"); and the ethical quandaries of technological advances ("The Circle"). Among his many skills as an author, he excels at finding the strength and dignity behind these large-scale issues without ever being maudlin or preachy. Simply put, Eggers is one of this generation's finest chroniclers of how regular people reconcile themselves with an increasingly irregular world.

"Heroes," as we learn from the first page, has nothing to do with bravely exploring the Wild West. Instead, this unique road-trip saga drops us firmly in the present day, joining the story in medias res as protagonist Josie has fled to Alaska with her two children in a rented RV. With the shambles of her business and marriage behind her, geographically if not emotionally, Josie is eager for a second chance. The underlying metaphor of contending with raging wildfires, though never explicitly stated, is both timely and relevant: in a society that feels like it could implode at any moment, how you handle the flames of change is what will define you when you need to rise from the ashes.

As often happens during the stops, starts, and sudden changes of a long drive, characters come and go -- some staying for longer than others, some never actually present but always haunting the proceedings. All the while, how Josie handles the fleeting nature of human contact is a real credit to Eggers' grasp of our intrinsic, embattled need for validation. Josie craves to be embraced by some sign of civilization, and in flinging her well beyond her comfort zone, he is powerfully perceptive about where the roots of social constructs really lie. Crafting vivid, stream-of-consciousness prose from a third-person limited perspective, Eggers slowly and appropriately develops and shades his main character without overwhelming the reader with upfront details. Over the course of the book, we learn the full scope of Josie's backstory and motivation only when we need to. As the pieces of her struggle fall into place, we can reflect on what was already divulged, and we can identify that much more strongly with her existential plight.

Such engagement with the material might seem too lofty, but Eggers succeeds in keeping the tone eloquently breezy and, above all, accessible. Dark humor abounds as Josie's children are forced to accompany her on this voyage of self-discovery. Her interactions with them are almost painfully realistic as she realizes that the same choices lacking from her own past may soon be stripped from them thanks to her. Kids really do say the darnedest things, but here, it's not a cheap gimmick for easy laughs; it's symptomatic of situations that make them grow up too fast despite a parent's best intentions. Eggers takes special care not to find the easy way out, and he avoids wrapping up such grand misadventures in a nice, neat package. The characters' trip may come to an end, but it's safe to say that their destination isn't really a physical place after all.

Despite his cynical but ultimately warranted dissection of the status of the American Dream, Eggers is hardly a pessimist. By capturing these trials and tribulations on the open road, he presents the crumbling of our collective goals as a challenge to start over. Along the way, hope and joy can be rediscovered in freedom and opportunity, but only when we seize that purpose and never let go.