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mvw3 's review for:
What Is the What
by Dave Eggers
It took me a solid 100 pages to get into this book, its narrative structure, and its authorial voice. Yes, it's brilliant, poignant, and moving. It's also totally Dave Eggers, and it was a real struggle to hear Deng's voice over the loud roar of Eggers' story-telling. Did Eggers call this fiction in order to soften the hard, raw edges of the Sudanese Lost Boys saga or to sharpen them? Does the fiction label absolve Eggers of journalistic integrity a traditional biographer would have? I can't help but wonder how Deng's life story would have read if told in his own words or with the help of another writer, one who doesn't notoriously self-promote as heartbreaking and genius. What is the What is terribly problematic, but imminently worthwhile.