What Is The What
by Dave Eggers
Valentino Achak Deng is just a boy when conflict separates him from his family and forces him to leave his small Sudanese village, joining thousands of other orphans on their long, long walk to Ethiopia, where they find safety – for a time.
Truly epic in scope, and told with expansive humanity, deep compassion and unexpected humour, What is the What is an eye-opening account of life amid the madness of war and an unforgettable tale of tragedy and triumph.
‘A book with the imaginative sweep, the scope and, above all, the emotional power of an epic… Intense, straightforward, lit by lightning flashes of humour, wisdom and charm… Dave Eggers has made the outlines of the tragedy in East Africa not only sharp and clear but indelible. An eloquent testimony to the power of storytelling, What Is The What is an extraordinary work of witness, and of art’
New York Times Book Review
‘If there was ever any doubt that Dave Eggers is one of our most important storytellers, What Is the What should put it to rest… [A] strange, beautiful and unforgettable work’
San Francisco Chronicle
‘A remarkable book: harrowing, witty, wretched, delightful; and always compelling, always surprising’
London Review of Books
‘Dave Eggers has become J. D. Salinger, Ken Kesey and Jack Kerouac rolled into one’
The Times
