What is the What
SynopsisPlot
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.
Story
About this book
What is the What is a biographical novel by Dave Eggers, built around the life of Valentino Achak Deng. As a young boy in southern Sudan, Deng was separated from his family when his village was attacked. He became one of an estimated 17,000 children later known as the Lost Boys of Sudan, forced to walk hundreds of miles across the borders of several countries. Along the way, the children faced militias, aerial bombardment, harsh desert terrain, and predatory wildlife. The novel follows this long displacement through Deng's eyes, giving shape to years of walking, waiting, and surviving.
Deng eventually spent time in a refugee camp in Kenya before being resettled in Atlanta in 2001. The American chapters of the book explore what arrival in a new country actually looks like: practical difficulties, unfamiliar systems, loneliness, and small moments of unexpected humor alongside continued hardship. Eggers worked closely with Deng to construct the narrative, and the result sits between novel and testimony, using fictional techniques to carry a factual life story.
The book shifts between Sudan, Kenya, and the United States, covering roughly two decades. Its structure moves back and forth in time, placing the reader inside both the long trek across East Africa and the quieter dislocations of resettlement.
