What Is the What

I knew something was afoot when I read "Up the Mountain Coming Down Slowly." Where was the self aware ego, the fictional non-fiction (with notes), the inner dialogue masked as a conversation between corporeal persons? Instead of his usual tricks I found a semi-allegorical story concerning western imperialism in third world countries. Didn't this guy try to get on the Real World? Eggers transformation from post-modern slacker to politically minded provocateur is complete and out of his chrysalis has sprung one of the best novels I've read in years. It's not an easy trick to make one's way from self serving aggrandizer (even if one is admits he's a self serving aggrandizer) to someone with a political message, especially if that political message is about the plight of a group you don't happen to belong to. If handled incorrectly the author risks presenting his work as no more than a cultural furlough so that he may play native for awhile. There are several reasons that explain why Eggers does not fall into this trap. First, the novel is semi-biographical. It is based on the life story of Egger's friend Valentino Achak Deng. In fact, the entire title reads What Is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achack Deng and, curiously, underneath reads "a novel." To avoid a long, and inevitably supplemented, introduction detailing the difference between what happens in the book and what actually happened, Eggers decided to term his work a novel despite its origins in real life. Eggers goes so far as to write the novel in first person and overhauls his style to approximate Valentino's speech. If he were a lesser novelist Egger's writing would reek of cultural poaching, but by the second paragraph I forgot it was Eggers writing the novel and not Valentino. Like a great actor he manages to hide himself behind the prose. Second, Eggers makes it very clear his purpose is to motivate people. The novel begins with Valentino being robbed and subsequently kidnapped. The robbers leave a young child, presumably their kid, to watch over a bound Valentino. We learn of Valentino's life in Sudan as he pretends to address his captor. Throughout the novel this same technique is repeated as Valentino imagines himself telling a hospital worker or a gym attendant his story. The reader is made aware that Sudan's atrocities do not just occur to people thousands of miles away but also to those we pass everyday in the street. It also mirrors the fact that these atrocities have occurred for decades while the rest of the world remains ignorant. Eggers also makes good use of a schoolteacher character who leads a band of lost boys across the country. The schoolteacher attempts to explain to the boys why they are running from their homes and into Ethiopia, and by educating them he is, of course, also educating the reader. I am reminded of when Robert Jordan, in For Whom the Bell Tolls, attempts to explain land reform by likening it to the Land Rush in the

You're looking for a good book. You've read Dave Eggers or you've met him at a signing. You're thinking that you'll eventually pick this one up too. Everyone is talking about it. Besides, the cover is fantastic and it will look great on your shelf, the one that all your dates or babysitters scan. Be prepared, though, this is not a book that deserves a simple glance or casual committment. It's a brilliantly woven tale, mostly true, of a young Sudanese and his daily struggle to understand his place in wartime Africa ... and in the United States. Before you judge that this is a political tale and you watch enough CNN to know what's going on, consider the first reason why you're curious: you're looking for a good book, maybe one that you won't lend to anyone else because it might not be returned. Here's what's going to happen. First, Valentino's voice will come alive. When you're pretending to laugh with friends at the bar, you'll hear Valentino's voice retell a story about lions that you just read hours before. You'll see what he sees and you'll tire easily, running with him through the desert or riding a bike for the first time. Your heart will break and you'll occassionally feel undeniable urges for hope and love and luck. You'll beg and plead your boyfriend/husband/friend to read it with you. And if you're like me, you'll get late-night emails from others, unsure if you've already read about Tabitha or not. So, if you're looking for something simple and easy, something that maybe your Mom might read, this is not the book for you. If you're looking for something simply brilliant and deeply felt, this is something you might want to give your Mom. It may be one of the best gifts you could give.

"What is the What" is a sprawling, semi-biographical novel about the life of Valentino Achak Deng, a Sudanese refugee living in Atlanta and reflecting on his life story as he is robbed and beaten by two thieves who have gotten into his apartment. The narrative goes back and forth between Valentino's present situation and his youth in the village of Marial Bai and, later, his years fleeing his homeland and becoming one of the displaced "Lost Boys" in a Kenyan refugee camp. His story is harrowing and brutal; before getting to Kenya the very young Valentino bears witness to innumerable atrocities and hardships. Believing that his family was murdered, he embarks on a deadly trek across the desert to find safe haven in Ethiopia, and many of his fellow walkers and friends die of starvation or attacks by lions and soldiers. Safety in Ethiopia is only short-lived, however, and Valentino must escape again. Before age twelve he has seen the very worst of humanity: its selfishness, its greed, its corruption and violence, but Valentino remains optimistic for his future, even when life seems determined to keep him down. But disappointment with his new life in America may be his breaking point, as he has failed to find a job that can support him adequately, get the education that he would need to get ahead, and continues to be be a victim of senseless violence and a government/society that can't be bothered to care about his plight. "What is the What" is a searing, eye-opening experience about the crises in Africa and the way its victims are routinely passed off by society -- when sometimes just the simplest of kindnesses would be enough to help them by. Instead, people like Valentino Achak Deng have been denied their very humanity, and seem doomed to live life on the fringes of society. The title, an excellent recurring theme on Eggers' part, refers to an old Dinka legend about the creation of the world, when God offered his people cows and shelter to survive, and then offered them the What instead if they would rather have it. What the What is cannot be answered, but in Valentino's quest he comes across many possible answers and theories. The novel is not without fault: there are numerous grammatical errors (usually 'where' instead of 'were,' etc.), it could have been about fifty pages shorter, and the switches from present day to past are frequently a little too jarring, but on the whole the novel excells, and its message makes it well worth your time. Highly recommended.

If Moses and the Jews had had Eggers to tell their story, it would have sounded more like this than the truncated, CliffsNotes version in the book of Exodus. Once again, Eggers has placed the experience of an individual into a historic and human context that renders both the history and the human more important and more personal. Eggers has a strong prophetic voice informed by passion that, in my world, we would say is a product of the indwelling Holy Spirit -- true inspiration. I suppose there may be some other explanation; whatever it is, I respect it. In "What is the What" Eggers combines his moral genius with his ultramodern writing style. Clearly, he submitted to rigorous editing. There is nothing self-conscious or self-congratulatory about this book. Eggers is not in there; Valentino Achak Deng is. This is an astonishing, wonderful book.

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.