What Is the What
What Is the What is the epic novel based on the life of Valentino Achak Deng who, along with thousands of other children--the so-called Lost Boys--was forced to leave his village in Sudan at the age of seven and trek hundreds of miles by foot, pursued by militias, government bombers, and wild animals, crossing the deserts of three countries to find freedom. When he finally is resettled in the United States, he finds a life full of promise, but also heartache and myriad new challenges. Moving, suspenseful, and unexpectedly funny, What Is the What is an astonishing novel that illuminates the lives of millions through one extraordinary man. --From the Trade Paperback edition.
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What Hacker News says
- "Anathem" by Neal Stephenson is the best book I've read in years. The first 50 pages or so are a slog, but after that I couldn't put it down.
"What is the What" by Dave Eggers is also phenomenal.
- "What is the What" is one of the most beautifully written books of the last decade. I wholeheartedly endorse this.
- I believe after a certain point in your development, to be a better engineer or a better writer you have to become a better person. A person who is truly and consistently nurturing and able to understand what others are going through. You master your own inherent narcissism. Becoming a better person is much, much harder than improving your skills in one area or another. It takes a change that must come from within. No one will guide you. No external motivation exists. No material reward.
Consider if Ernest Hemingway had never written a single line of prose, but showed up to a party hosted by anyone who visits these pages, it would be clear he would be the most interesting person in the room. Because of the life he lived and choices he made. The words, they're a mere side effect of a life lived deeply and fully.
This is why writers like Dave Eggers write about other people who have lived extraordinary lives (What is the What and Zeitoun). Because he grew up in relatively bland suburbia. He lost both his parents very young, and wrote about that but then what is he going to write about?
