false <![CDATA[What Is the What (Vintage)]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1216281986m/340514.jpg 4952 18 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. 3271214 25 10 2006 What Is the What total:15942|5:6855|4:6306|3:2226|2:428|1:127| 15942 67160 26788 3500 5 29 false false Wed Jan 02 09:54:43 -0800 2008 Sat May 26 15:04:44 -0700 2007 Wed Jan 02 09:53:58 -0800 2008 What is the What is without a doubt one of the best books I have ever read!

The story of Valentino Achak Deng, a so-called Lost Boy of the Sudan, is so moving that after reading the book I went...more...]]> 1 22 false false Wed Jun 25 20:09:09 -0700 2008 Thu Jun 26 18:08:20 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 10 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 07 05:43:18 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 07 09:37:03 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 9 false false Fri Nov 07 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 11 02:32:57 -0800 2008 Wed Jul 29 01:51:53 -0700 2009
Hmm, if this Sudanese refugee & now American Valentine Achak Deng can turn a phrase like that, how come he needs Dave Eggars to shape his book and cop the byline? Okay, maybe ...more...]]> 2 7 false false Thu Jul 10 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Mar 11 11:50:36 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 10 16:59:25 -0700 2008
LISTEN UP ... this took me THREE MONTHS to finish!!! I did read other books in the meantime, but believe me, I wouldn't have dragged my feet on this one if the storytelling hadn't been so TERRIBLY AWFUL!

Examples of STORIES told particularly ...more...]]> 3 8 false false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Feb 26 16:12:00 -0800 2008 Thu Feb 28 21:12:36 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 5 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Feb 03 11:23:36 -0800 2008 Sun Feb 03 12:29:03 -0800 2008
Eggers weaves a present tense with the story of Valentino's childhood in Sudan. In the present tense Valentino is g...more...]]> 4 6 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Oct 24 06:36:53 -0700 2007 Wed Oct 24 06:37:26 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 3 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu Apr 24 09:08:21 -0700 2008 Thu Apr 24 09:09:00 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 3 false false Mon Apr 28 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Jan 13 07:17:40 -0800 2008 Mon Apr 28 20:30:54 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 6 false false Sat Aug 23 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Oct 23 04:57:58 -0700 2007 Sat Aug 23 19:50:48 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 4 false false Thu Aug 02 16:20:56 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 23 07:33:21 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 3 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Jul 25 05:30:48 -0700 2007 Wed Jul 25 06:45:40 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 2 false false Sun Jan 04 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Dec 31 07:21:52 -0800 2008 Sun Jan 04 07:54:34 -0800 2009 more...]]> 1 3 false false Wed Aug 08 19:35:42 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 23 07:42:24 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 2 false false Mon Jul 21 18:49:57 -0700 2008 Mon Jul 21 18:53:53 -0700 2008
What is the What, by Dave Eggers, is a docu-drama-type "novel" based on the real life of ...more...]]> 4 2 false false Fri Jan 02 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Apr 12 15:27:53 -0700 2008 Sun Jan 04 17:48:58 -0800 2009
OK. It's done. I've finished. It took me awhile to finish this book--and here's why: I started this book in the Spring of '08 after havi...more...]]> 4 2 true false Mon Jun 16 14:12:37 -0700 2008 Fri Mar 28 19:11:43 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 16 14:12:37 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 2 false false Thu Feb 07 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 21 13:58:30 -0800 2008 Thu Feb 07 10:14:00 -0800 2008
In the preface to What Is The What, Valentino Achak Deng says that he told his story to the author, Dave Eggers, over a period of years. Eggers captured Achak's tone and spirit so closely that I kept forgetting that the author was not the man who experienced the horrors of what happ...more...]]> 4 3 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Wed Jan 09 14:43:40 -0800 2008 Wed Jan 09 18:59:54 -0800 2008 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=340514