One Magnificent Read–What Is The What
I rarely recommend books. I do like to talk about the books I’m reading, but it’s not very often that I actually speak of them in a manner that relays true movement in my life. However, I am about to recommend a book to you that I cannot find words to adequately praise or give approval to. To say the least, What Is The What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng by Dave Eggers is a beautiful piece of art that has forever changed my life. My world view pertaining to war, survival, love, determination, faith, and humanity has been eternally and deeply reconstructed. Never before have I read such a powerful story as that of Valentino Achak Deng’s. His life, as transcribed by Eggers, is absolutely stunning, captivating, breath taking, saddening and overwhelmingly inspiring. Deng’s story is an invaluable treasure, and I am so happy that he chose to share it with the rest of the world. Eggers recounts Deng’s early childhood growing up in southern Sudan and follows his journey of survival, heartache, devastation and hope from his home village of Marial Bai to the desert sands of Ethiopia to the refugee camps of Kenya to the concrete chaos of Atlanta, Georgia. Deng’s story is universally courageous.
Eggers does an immaculate job of bringing to life a story which a portion of the world’s leadership and humanitarian opponents would have been satisfied to forget about forever. They would have been happy to forget about the innocent killings, the corrupt Sudanese government, the oil fields, the Lost Boys, and the thousands who lost their lives, senselessly. There are men in this world who regard human life as expendable and valueless based on skin color and region of birth. There are men in this world who assign status based on monetary means and religious practice. There are men and women who would have been happy if Deng’s story and countless others like it had never been told. But Deng’s story, thankfully, is being told, and What Is The What stands in direct opposition to those men and women and their blood thirsty greediness bent on destroying innocence and humanity. Reading this book will make you laugh, and it will make you cry. There are no boundaries left untouched. Deng’s story will take you to the edge of what you thought was humanly possible.
Please buy this book. All the proceeds from What Is The What go to Deng’s organization, The Valentino Achak Deng Foundation, dedicated to “increasing access to educational opportunities for those affected by the conflicts in Sudan.” For more information on Deng and what he is accomplishing in Sudan, read these additional articles by Nicholas Kristoff of the New York Times here and here.
