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What Is the What (Paperback)

by Dave Eggers (Author)

5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

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Product Details

Paperback: 560 pages
Publisher: Vintage Canada; 1st Trade edition (Oct 9 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0676979491
ISBN-13: 978-0676979497
Product Dimensions: 20.1 x 13.2 x 3.3 cm
Shipping Weight: 409 g

Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

Amazon.ca Sales Rank: #12,349 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Valentino Achak Deng, real-life hero of this engrossing epic, was a refugee from the Sudanese civil war-the bloodbath before the current Darfur bloodbath-of the 1980s and 90s. In this fictionalized memoir, Eggers (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius) makes him an icon of globalization. Separated from his family when Arab militia destroy his village, Valentino joins thousands of other "Lost Boys," beset by starvation, thirst and man-eating lions on their march to squalid refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya, where Valentino pieces together a new life. He eventually reaches America, but finds his quest for safety, community and fulfillment in many ways even more difficult there than in the camps: he recalls, for instance, being robbed, beaten and held captive in his Atlanta apartment. Eggers's limpid prose gives Valentino an unaffected, compelling voice and makes his narrative by turns harrowing, funny, bleak and lyrical. The result is a horrific account of the Sudanese tragedy, but also an emblematic saga of modernity-of the search for home and self in a world of unending upheaval.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From AudioFile

The title, from an African creation myth, is also a metaphor for making sense of an alien world. Sudanese refugee Valentino Achak Deng escapes his homeland, spends years in refugee camps, and then emigrates to America. The novel is told with a touch of humor, without which the brutality of Dengs experiences would be hard to take. Dion Grahams accent sounds authentic enough and colors the reading without overpowering it. He catches Dengs mystified wonder as he tries to make sense of the contrasts he discovers in American life. Graham also moves fluidly from Dengs African accent to urban-American black accents. The novels first-person point of view is compelling. Graham does it justice as he takes listeners into the story. R.C.G. AudioFile Best Audiobook of 2007 © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

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Customer Reviews

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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What, what, Feb 22 2007

By	E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: What Is the What (Hardcover)

Dave Eggers is the literary king of autobiographies tinged with fiction. First we had "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius," a dramatised look at Eggers' own life.

Now he's produced "What is the What," a novel-slash-biography of Valentino Achak Deng, a real-life refugee from the Sudan, who was moved to the US years ago. Through his voice, Eggers crafts his best novel to date -- a raw, compelling life story, without gimmicks or tricks.

The story actually opens in America, when Deng is working in a Georgia health club and attending college. One day, he's assaulted and his apartment is robbed -- as he lies tied up on the floor, he thinks to the boy watching his TV, "You do not understand, I would tell them. You would not add to my suffering if you knew what I have seen."

Inside his own mind, Deng takes readers back into his own history -- back in the Sudan, he was part of a large, loving polygamous family, with lots of friends and siblings. That all changed when Arab militiamen attacked his village, burning homes and leaving many of the adults dead.

And so Deng was one of the Lost Boys -- 20,000 young kids (mostly boys) who wandered across the deserts to refugee camps. Many of them died on the way. Deng spends more time in one of the camps, before finally being brought to the United States. But while the US has plenty of new opportunities, Deng must struggle with new problems and setbacks.

In a way, Eggers is the ideal author to chronicle a "Lost Boy's" life story -- he's devoted a lot of ink to stories of people who are "lost" or displaced from those around them. And so when he's called on to write of a person who was truly displaced, he falls right into the groove and barrels right ahead.

And the result is absolutely breathtaking. No navel-gazing. No angsty introspection. There's just Deng's story, wrapped up in Eggers' prose.

Eggers has shorn his writing of its trappings in favor of a funny, dark, stranger-in-a-strange-land narrative, soaked in a feeling of homesickness, sorrow and loneliness. His prose is smoother and more powerful than ever before -- the horrifying trip across the desert is one of the best pieces of writing Eggers has ever done, as are the final pages of Deng's inner thoughts.

It's a little hard to really describe Deng in this novel, since he is a real person who is still alive. But through Eggers' pen, he comes across as a saddened, scarred man who is nevertheless hopeful for a better life. It's incredibly compelling, and one suspects that a fictional character would never have leapt from the pages like this.

"What is the What" is a bittersweet odyssey from the point of view of one man, and Dave Eggers proves his brilliance by bringing that story to life. A must read.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A gift, Dec 3 2006

By	K. Wrightson "Between the pages" (Victoria, Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: What Is the What (Hardcover)

This is an incredible book. A moving journey across space and time. Always fast paced, always heart wrenching. You keep wanting to turn the page but at the same time savor every line and every word. Every human being should read this book, take a deep breath, and realize how small the world we live in is. It should not be ignored.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fascinating, Nov 18 2007

By	E. Henderson "erinsol" (vancouver) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have tried to read Egger's other novel but found it quite unsatisfying. This one, however, I could not put down. Eggers does a fantastic job at weaving together the memories and experiences of his main character; resulting in a riveting and heart wrenching chronicle of the Lost Boys in their struggle to flee war-torn Sudan. It is not for the faint at heart. It gives the history of the war in Sudan throughout the story and doesn't spare any details of the realities of civil war, ethnic cleansing, life as a refugee, and as well of the most rural "third world". I cried when I finished this, and wasn't able to read for a while afterwards. If you are ever feeling sorry for yourself, you should read this book and be inspired by the will of those in it.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars compelling
Hesitated to read another book by Eggers, however, no disappointment here. Beautifully written, hard to put down, Deng's true-life story of his life in the Sudan and relocation... Read more

Published 18 months ago by grace