“ ‘Man, I hope we meet some Tuareg guys.’
    ‘What guys?’
    ‘The Tuareg? You know the Tuareg.’
    ‘No.’
    ‘The Tuareg? They’re the blue men?’
    I wanted to throw rocks at his head.
    ‘Tell me,’ I said.
    ‘Blue men. I think that’s what the word means. Blue men. These guys were badasses. They’re like nomadic trader-thieves, who would spring out from the Sahara and rob caravans. They were insane. Blue eyes, blue skin and everything. Scariest people ever. Twelve feet tall.’
    I squinted at him, wondering how I’d get along if I ditched him in Casablanca.
    ‘You don’t believe me?’ he asked, offended. ‘Ask anyone in Morocco about the Tuareg. Or the blue men. Say blue men and watch them run in terror.’ ”

—Dave Eggers, You Shall Know Our Velocity!, 2002.