num_pages: 538
description: This is the story of a man who, as a boy, was separated from his family in Sudan's brutal civil war; who trekked across Africa's punishing wilderness with thousands of other children; who survived aerial bombardment and attacks by militias and wild animals; who ate whatever he could find or nothing at all; who, as a boy, considered ending his life to end the suffering; and who eventually mad it to America, where a new and equally challenging journey began. His name is Valentino Achak Deng, and in this novel Dave Eggers tells the extraordinary true story of his incredible journey.--back cover
language: English
title: What is the What
titlecomplete: What is the What
genres: Literature, Fiction, Contemporary, Book Club, Historical Fiction, War, Historical, Sudan, Novels, American
ratings_count: 84273
places: Kakuma, South Sudan, Ethiopia, East Africa, Marial Bai, North Africa, Kenya, Sudan, Africa
awards: awardedAt: 1167638400000
name: Independent Publisher Book Award (IPPY)
category: Literary Fiction, awardedAt: 1230796800000
name: Prix Médicis Etranger, awardedAt: 1136102400000
name: National Book Critics Circle Award
category: Fiction
publisher: Penguin Books