Surprise! Previously unannounced Dave Eggers novel coming in Oct.

As a general rule, by the time August rolls around, publishers have announced all their fall books. But there are always exceptions to rules, and Dave Eggers is an exception.

Eggers has a new novel, “The Circle,” coming out in October, news of which was kept quiet until the N.Y. Times spotted it Tuesday. “Dave Eggers is perfecting the art of sneaking onto bookshelves,” John Williams wrote, noting that Eggers’ 2012 novel “A Hologram for the King” was published less than a month after it was announced by publishing house McSweeneys, which the author founded.

“The Circle” will be published by Knopf, which describes the book on its website: “When Mae Holland is hired to work for the Circle, the world’s most powerful internet company, she feels she’s been given the opportunity of a lifetime. The Circle, run out of a sprawling California campus, links users’ personal emails, social media, banking, and purchasing with their universal operating system, resulting in one online identity and a new age of civility and transparency. As Mae tours the open-plan office spaces, the towering glass dining facilities, the cozy dorms for those who spend nights at work, she is thrilled with the company’s modernity and activity. There are parties that last through the night, there are famous musicians playing on the lawn, there are athletic activities and clubs and brunches, and even an aquarium of rare fish retrieved from the Marianas Trench by the CEO. Mae can’t believe her luck, her great fortune to work for the most influential company in the world — even as life beyond the campus grows distant, even as a strange encounter with a colleague leaves her shaken, even as her role at the Circle becomes increasingly public. What begins as the captivating story of one woman’s ambition and idealism soon becomes a heart-racing novel of suspense, raising questions about memory, history, privacy, democracy, and the limits of human knowledge.”

While it’s clear that the Circle bears some resemblance to Facebook and Google, there’s little more to say before the book arrives here. Which should be any day now.

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