Editor's Picks

Dave Eggers

I’ve always thought Dave Eggers was kind of a dick. The author of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius seemed so into himself, too full of his own hipness and cleverness for his own good. But recently Eggers has become less a would-be spokesperson for Generation X and more one for the weak and dispossessed. His most recent novel What Is the What is a fictional version of the real life of Valentino Achak Deng, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan. With his village burned down and his family murdered, Deng is forced to wander with other children across three deserts to refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya, fighting off hunger, soldiers and wild animals on the way. Eggers has put irony aside and written a simple and harrowing story. Joining Eggers for this closing event of the One Book, One Philadelphia program is Deng himself and author Mary Williams, one of the leading activists for the Lost Boys. It’s a night dedicated to shining a light on the ongoing tragedy in Sudan and on the growth of one of our best writers. (Jack Schonewolf)