wpboger 's review for:

What Is the What by Dave Eggers

4.0

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I don't know whether to call this a novel or not, and how much is "true" or not. As a novel, this a sweeping tale, full of casual cruelty, primitive warfare, and innocents lost. Deng emerges as a 20th Century Job, struggling to place the terror of his life in some broader, meaningful, spiritual context, while also trying to navigate the lesser confusions of our culture and time. Eggers captures a very distinct voice, telling a singular story, but one that echoes every great bildungsroman. By far his best book.