What Is the What?

Such is the title of the latest book from equally adored/abhored author Dave Eggers. Hear him discuss What Is the What tonight at the Central Library. His book is the choice for this year's One Book, One Philadelphia program, which aims to increase awareness about literacy and libraries.

Eggers is the literary darling that some people love to hate. We admit that his ubiquitous presence around the time that A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius was published made us nauseous, but after reading the book, we understood what all of the hoopla was about. Since then, his subsequent work, such as You Shall Know Our Velocity and What Is the What, as well as being the founder of McSweeney's, The Believer, and charitable organization 826 Valencia (and its offshoots) have established him less as a literary upstart and more as a true contributor to American writing.

Enough about the author. The book is based on the real story of Valentino Achak Deng, a Sudanese refugee who was also member of the Lost Boys of Sudan program (also discussed in the film God Grew Tired of Us). Although the book is based on Deng's life, Eggers avoided pulling a Frey and turned the story into a novel. According to a review by the Washington Post, "No secret is made of the fact that some of the characters in the book are composites, some episodes are invented, and much of the storyline has been reordered and reshaped for narrative effect. The result, however, is a document that—unlike so many 'real' autobiographies—exudes authenticity."

Put plainly, according to its page on McSweeney's, the book can be described as such: "Separated from his family, Valentino Achak Deng becomes a refugee in war-ravaged southern Sudan. His travels bring him in contact with enemy soldiers, with liberation rebels, with hyenas and lions, with disease and starvation, and with deadly murahaleen (militias on horseback) – the same sort who currently terrorize Darfur."

Eggers is said to be a dynamic presence, so even if you're not a book geek like us, it should be interesting. And who knows. Perhaps his self-proclaimed nemesis or some other members of the Underground Literary Alliance will stop by for some shenanigans. (That's right. I said hoopla and shenanigans in the same post. What?)

Dave Eggers discusses What Is the What
Tonight at 7:00 PM
Central Library (1901 Vine Street)
Cost: FREE