A few months ago, Kim found that Dave Eggers was coming to town to speak at the Melbourne International Writers Festival. They called it this a few years back because the (sometimes) desperate Arts crowd had lobbied the State Arts Minister for more validation that we are intellectually better than Sydney scum, by applying to UNESCO to become the world’s second City of Literature (the only one now is Edinburgh, Scotland).
Anyhow, back to Dave, whose other two books I have read and loved the first halves of, but found that they petered out a little near the end. Well, I ended up buying his latest “What is the What”, and it’s radically different from the other two. This one is a (largely) true story about a Sudanese refugee from the Darfur region, who endured unimaginable hazards to finally be accepted for migration to the U.S as one of a number of “Lost Boys” (orpans of the civil wars in Africa), due to efforts by celebrities like Jane Fonda and Ted Turner. 
Apart from the shock value of much of the 10 year ordeal of Deng (including boys beside him being eaten by lions, or set on fire, or used as used as 11 year old soldiers by local militias), the book is unafraid to portray his difficult experiences and frustrations with modern day Atlanta also (hospital treatment, policing). Whilst he undoubtedly has a better life, he undergoes some depression after the loss of a girlfriend, and finds himself a little adrift.
It was an excellent read, and unfortunately on the night in question, I was tired and I missed seeing Eggers, who has been catapulted to fame, and now has a serious ongoing comittment to Sudanese causes and fundraising. His next book is on a similar topic. 4.5 stars.