What is the What?

I am reading a book right now called What is the What. It's not a quick, easy read, so it's taking me quite some time to finish. It's an amazing book. I picked it up because it was written by Dave Eggers, who runs the very cool McSweeney's website and also wrote A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, which I loved. 

Anyway, What is the What is the true story of Valentino Achak Deng, one of the "lost boys of Sudan." The country of Sudan has long been in the throes of civil war and religious infighting. Thousands of orphaned boys (and some girls) were forced during the 1980's to abandon their decimated villages and walk hundreds of miles to refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya. These lost boys grew up in the camps and many of them have since immigrated to the United States, where they are typically sponsored by an American family until they are comfortable with western culture. 

Deng's story is, as you can imagine, bittersweet, as he tells the details of his childhood in his home village, the long walk he endured, his time in refugee camps, and finally his adjustment to life in Atlanta. Throughout the book, you get the sense that Deng was never made bitter by his harsh existence, that he always maintains dignity, hope, and a sense of responsibility toward his fellow Sudanese. 

It's a story that needed telling, if only to remind us of the horrible things going on in other parts of the world, and the importance of having compassion for other human beings. I definitely encourage everyone to check it out.