What is the What

Dave Eggers (2006)

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THE A5 BOOK REVIEW

What is the What is a best-selling novel based on the life of Valentino Achak Deng, a Sudanese child refugee who immigrated to the United States. Deng was traumatically separated from his family at the age of seven during the Second Sudanese Civil War and forced to join the so-called Lost Boys of Sudan. He faced horrible danger and hardship, trekking hundreds of miles to eventually make his way to a refugee camp in Ethiopia and then, when that also became too dangerous, to another camp in Kenya. The story covers both Deng’s history and the struggles of immigration to a radically different world in the United States, although it is important to note that the book is better defined as a “fictionalized autobiography”, written by Dave Eggers on Deng’s behalf in Deng’s voice. What is the What was a finalist for the National Book Award.

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OTHER A5 RECOMMENDED TRAVEL BOOKS - DAVE EGGERS

Dave Eggers is a prolific and popular award-winning author, known also for his philanthropic work around the importance of writing. He is perhaps best known for his first book, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, his own story as a twenty-one-year old forced to take care of his young brother when his parents died. Click here to learn more about Dave Eggers.

book cover of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

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GREAT QUOTES FROM WHAT IS THE WHAT

“I cannot count the times I have cursed our lack of urgency. If I ever love again, I will not wait to love as best as I can. We thought we were young and that there would be time to love well sometime in the future. This is a terrible way to think. It is no way to live, to wait to love.”

“The truth is that I do not like hanging in there. I was born, I believe, to do more. Or perhaps it's that I survived to do more. Dorsetta is married, a mother of three, and manages a restaurant; she does more than hang in there. I have a low opinion of this expression, "Hang in there.”

INTERESTING LINKS:

Learn more about the horrible story of the Lost Boys of Sudan at the website for the International Rescue Committee.
The Valentino Achak Deng Foundation is a nonprofit organization created by Valentino Deng and Dave Eggers that creates community-driven development projects in South Sudan. The foundation's first major project was the construction and operation of an 18-structure educational complex in Valentino's hometown of Marial Bai. The Marial Bai Secondary School (MBSS) has increased access to excellent secondary education, trained teachers, created equal opportunities for girls, and promoted literacy for children and adults in the region. MBSS is the highest ranking South Sudanese secondary school that is free for students to attend, a true leader in the movement to educate the new nation of South Sudan. Please visit their website and consider becoming a contributor for this great cause.