A month or so ago, Nitro wrote a nice overview of the Dave Eggers book What is the What. I won’t repeat her glowing review, which I thought was spot on. I will, however, add this: I went back through my old Believer magazines from 2004 and found the original serialization of what, at the time, was going to be a “biography”- titled “It was Just Boys Walking” (three portions were published in the March, April, and May editions of the mag) - and only later became the “fictional autobiography,” What is the What.
It is a fascinating glimpse into the origin of what would later become a much different book. In the serialized piece, Valentino still goes by the name Dominic Arou (explained in What is the What). The original concept of the book appears to be a narrative that switches back and forth between Eggers journey to Sudan with Valentino/Dominic and Valentino’s story. The pieces with Eggers along for the ride reads almost like a third world travelogue.
As written in these Believer articles, Eggers is prominent on almost every page, if only to provide a western background to the history, explain the politics, or highlight how different the whole experience is from our lives. The genius of What is the What is that Dave Eggers disappears entirely and only Valentino’s story remains.
What blows my mind is that it appears that at some point over this three month process Eggers decided that this book was going to be crap - and he scrapped the whole thing and started over. I won’t argue with him. The man is one of my favorite authors, and this series of articles, while interesting, does not provide anywhere near the experience of reading the “fictional autobiography.” The man knows what he is doing. He apparently trusts himself enough to know when it is time to just start over.
How hard is it to do that - throw away months (years?) of work if you intuit that it just might be done better another way? I don’t know, but it will be the question that I ask Mr. Eggers when I see him read (with Valentino) on Sunday night.
If you’re near the Atlanta metro area this weekend, cancel whatever you thought that you were going to do on Sunday night and come to this reading. It’s at the Center for Southern Literature (CSL) at the Margaret Mitchell House (MMH). An author’s reception begins at 6, the reading starts at 7. Since the novel focuses heavily on Valentino’s time here in Atlanta, I expect that there will be several of the Atlanta Sudanese Lost Boy community at the reading that are sure to provide additional perspective. Sadly, the reading is not free, nor do we have any books to give away for this one. Admission is $10, well worth it for this one, I say. Proceeds benefit the upkeep of the MMH (I think). At any rate, the CSL usually has free eats during the reception and a cash bar. You can reserve a spot (it may sell out) here.
Also: The title has been described elsewhere as “worst ever” - it actually makes total sense int he context of the book. It takes its name from a Sudanese creation myth. Just thought you should know.
Also: I’ve been fooling around with using Google Earth lately to check out geographic areas that I know nothing about while I’m reading about them. Below is a picture of the general area where Valentino’s village Marial Bai is located. See if you can find anything that remotely looks like civilization:
March 16th, 2007 at 10:47 am
Continuing in this theme, I was just loaned a book by a friend of BGB called “Beasts of No Nation”, by Uzodinma Iweala, which is a fictional work about child soldiers in an unnamed African nation. I intend to put this in the “to-read” pile right after “Love is a Mix Tape” (just finished, not yet posted on) and “1984″ (just started), but probably before “What is the What”. I’ll keep you posted.
March 16th, 2007 at 1:35 pm
I would like to state, just on principal, my continue belief that author readings *should* be free, as not much money changes hands in this business-at least in that regard.
And that’s all I have to say about that.:)
March 16th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
and i daresay i used the wrong principle. possibly.
March 16th, 2007 at 2:20 pm
Russ: Just remember, the school principal is your “pal” and you’ll have no problem remembering…
And I agree. I’m not sure how much of the money actually goes to maintenance of the MMH, etc. It’s a lot of money to pony up each time you want to see a reading there. It adds up. It’s free for members, but membership is $50… am I going to go to more than 5 readings there…
June 29th, 2007 at 11:27 am
[...] If you’ve read and were moved by Dave Eggers’ novel about Sudanese civil-war and genocide, What is the What, then you need to run - don’t walk - over to Google Earth. The coolest map toy in the world has partnered with The US Holocaust Memorial Museum to bring actual pictures of the atrocities that are taking place now in the Darfur region. You can zoom in on destroyed cities, click on embedded pictures, read eyewitness testimonies, etc. I had no idea that the USHMM was doing this kind of work, but God bless ‘em. It sure makes it a lot harder for governments to deny this is happening when anyone can check out the evidence for themselves. Here’s a screen shot of what you can expect: You can read our reviews of What is the What here and here. Read our account of the Dave and Valentino reading here. Check out McSweeney’s list of things that you can do for Sudan while you’re at it. [...]