What is the What Book Discussion

All seats are full and registration is currently closed.

The Lewiston Public Library is partnering with the Machiah Center and the Maine Humanities Council (MHC) to host a discussion on the book, What is the What, by Dave Eggers. Registrations are required for this free public event which will take place on Wed., April 16 at 6:30 p.m.

What is the What is a novel by Eggers written to capture the voice and the life story of Valentino Achak Deng, a refugee from the Sudanese civil war of the 1980’s and 1990’s. The story, written in the form of an autobiography, relates Deng’s struggles to survive as one of “The Lost Boys” of southern Sudan.

In the book, Valentino tells about his separation from his family when Arab militia destroy his village and his long march to refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya, where he pieces together a new life. He eventually reaches America only to continue encountering challenges which in many ways prove to be more difficult than those in Africa. Achak Deng, a refugee from the

Sudanese civil war of the 1980’s and 1990’s. The story, written in the form of an autobiography, relates Deng’s struggles to survive as one of “The Lost Boys” of southern Sudan.

“The narrative is by turns harrowing, funny, bleak and lyrical,” according to Publisher’s Weekly. They go on to describe the work as “a horrific account of the Sudanese tragedy, but also an emblematic saga of modernity—of the search for home and self in a world of unending upheaval.

The April 16 discussion program will be facilitated by Elizabeth Eames, professor of Anthropology at Bates College. Registrations for the program are now being taken and multiple copies of the book are available for borrowing.