Editors’ Blog

Dave Eggers and Valentino Achak Deng Return to Sudan

Tuesday, November 11th, 2008

By Chris Teja

Anyone who read What Is the What, Dave Eggers’s 2006 novel based on the true story of a young Sudanese refugee separated from his family, needs no introduction to the name Valentino Achak Deng. With Eggers channeling Valentino’s own unforgettable voice as narrator, What Is the What tells the story of Valentino fleeing his village as a young boy, encountering numerous life-threatening obstacles, and eventually making his way to refugee camps in Ethiopia and later Kenya before landing in the United States and finally reuniting with his family. In a review in the New York Times, Francine Prose compared the book to Huckleberry Finn and wrote: “The lyricism, the detail and, most important, the absolute specificity of these sentences are what make What Is the What so persuasive.”

Today, Valentino and Dave work together running the Valentino Achak Deng Foundation. Among their other projects, the foundation is currently working to build the first secondary school in Valentino’s region of Southern Sudan. Eggers and Achak Deng filmed a series of videos during their September 2008 trip to Southern Sudan.

 

  The Story of the Foundation 

 Valentino’s Tour of the Future School 

See more videos of Valentino and Dave’s trip on the foundation’s YouTube Channel.  

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5 responses

  1. maggie says:

    That’s an amazing book, like everything Eggers does. And Valentino himself is ‘amazing’ …to survive all he has and still have a heart, a loving heart…

  2. Liza roze says:

    What is the What is a novel composed by Dave Eggers and drawn from the genuine story of Valentino Achak Deng, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan. The title originates from a neighborhood tale about the compensation of picking what’s known over what’s obscure. As they escape the pulverization around them,

    Regards
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  4. toieit3 says:

    The story of Dave Eggers is truly inspiring and motivating. This once again proves that good photos can recreate history buffalo head You can even write a novel and come up with an incredible story based on them.

  5. Emily says:

    I’m interested in creating a Wikipedia page for my personal brand, but I don’t have the budget to hire a professional Wikipedia page creator. Is it possible to create a Wikipedia page on my own? Are there specific guidelines or resources I should follow to ensure my page is accepted and not flagged for deletion? If anyone has successfully created a Wikipedia page without professional assistance, I would appreciate learning about your experiences and any tips you can share.

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