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currently reading: What is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng by Dave Eggers

June 30th, 2010 · 6 Comments

From Publisher’s Weekly:

Separated from his family when Arab militia destroy his village, Valentino joins thousands of other ‘Lost Boys,’ beset by starvation, thirst and man-eating lions on their march to squalid refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya, where Valentino pieces together a new life. He eventually reaches America, but finds his quest for safety, community and fulfillment in many ways even more difficult there than in the camps: he recalls, for instance, being robbed, beaten and held captive in his Atlanta apartment. Eggers’s limpid prose gives Valentino an unaffected, compelling voice and makes his narrative by turns harrowing, funny, bleak and lyrical. The result is a horrific account of the Sudanese tragedy, but also an emblematic saga of modernity—of the search for home and self in a world of unending upheaval.

Available for purchase on Amazon.

{“Currently reading” is a place for me to share the books I’m reading right now and would recommend to someone else. If you’ve read this, or have a suggestion on what I should read next, do share! You can see other books I recommend here}.

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Responses to “currently reading: What is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng by Dave Eggers”

  1. Jess (the wife of an artist)

    July 1, 2010 at 1:02 am

    Such an amazing, heartbreaking book! If you haven’t read it yet, read The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Probably my favorite book that I’ve read in the last 10 years…with What is the What as second.

  2. ellie

    July 1, 2010 at 10:11 am

    Thanks Jess, I’ll definitely check it out!

  3. Deb

    July 1, 2010 at 8:22 pm

    Ellie, this book is amazing! You will not be able to put it down! p.s. I love your blog :)

  4. ellie

    July 1, 2010 at 8:48 pm

    thanks deb!

  5. Holly

    July 6, 2010 at 4:54 pm

    I bought this as a gift for my step-mom based soley on the amazing cover art!!! I read a few pages before I handed it over…now I can’t wait for her to finish it so I can have a turn ;)

  6. Melissa

    July 9, 2010 at 12:02 pm

    This book is wonderful, but it’s heartbreaking too. Enjoy.

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