Northampton Men's Book Group: March book: "What is the What" by Dave Eggers and Valentino Achak Deng

Thursday, March 13, 2008

March book: "What is the What" by Dave Eggers and Valentino Achak Deng

A memoir of one of the "Lost boys" of Sudan - refugees fleeing the violence of southernSudan in the 1980s making their way to refugee camps in Kenya and eventually to the United States.

1 comment :

Anonymous said...: This is an amazingly powerful book, told with restraint by Eggers (whom I love as a writer but who often goes way over the top with his prose) and brings the conflict of Deng compassionately to life.
You have a good choice here, friends.

Kevin
Leeds, MA; 3/14/2008 6:17 AM

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BOOKS 253+

253. THERE THERE, TOMMY ORANGE
254. IN LOVE WITH THE WORLD RINPOCHE
255. LAST HOUSE ON NEEDLESS STREET, C WARD
256. NICKEL BOYS, C WHITEHEAD
257. LIFES EDGE, ZIMMER
258. EXHALATION, CHIANG
259. GARDEN OF EVENING MISTS , ENG
260. THE MAN WITHOUT A FACE: PUTIN, GESSEN
261. PEOPLE LIKE DEAD JEWS, HORN
262. KLARA AND THE SUN, ISHIGURU
263. REMAINS OF THE DAY, ISHIGURU
264. IN THE NAME OF WAR, LEPORE
265. LINCOLN HIGHWAY, TOWLES
266. HARLEM SHUFFLE, WHITEHEAD
267. THE BURIED GIANT, ISHIGURU
268.ENTANGLED LIFE, SHENDRAKE
269. DRIVE YOUR PLOW, TOKARCZUK
270. THIS IS HAPPINESS, WILLIAMS
271. LIBERATION DAY, SAUNDERS
272. Sometimes a Great Notion, Kesey
274. Lessons in Chemistry, Garmus
275. All the Sinners Bleed, Cosby
276. Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, McBride
277. Best of O'Henry Short Stories
278. God Human Animal Machine
279. The winter Soldier, Mason
280. Northwoods, MAson
281. My Beloved World, Sotomayor
282. The Wager, Grann
283. Playground, Powers
284. James, by P Everett
285. MARTYR! KAVEH AKBAR
286. THE LATE COMER by J Korelitz
287. When we Cease to understand the World

Top Books

A Constellation of Vital Phenomena
Ahab's Wife
Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
Angela's Ashes
Apierogon by Collum McCann
Blindness
Cold Mountain
Cutting for Stone
Endurance
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Fortress of Solitude
History of Love
Homegoing
How to Change your Mind
Let the great world spin
Lincoln in the Bardo
Namesake
Netherland
Out Stealing Horses
Poisonwood Bible
Revolutionary Road
Rules of the Bone
Sing unburied Sing
The Brothers K
The Given Day
The Sense of an Ending
Tinkers
Train Dreams
What is the what

The second (and third) 100 books (see below for First 100)

252. Life's Edge by Zimmer
251. New Yorker Fiction short Stories
250. The spy who came in from the Cold by LeCarre
249. In. Love with the World by Rinpoche
248. Apierogon by Collum McCann
247. Anxious People Backman
246. The Water Dancer by Ta Nahesi Coates
245. Caste by E Wilkerson
244. Washington Black by Esi Eguygan
243. In the Garden of Beasts by Larson
242. Machines Like Me by Iam McEwan
241. Lunch with Buddha
240. On Earth we are briefly gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
239. True Grit by Portis
238. Night Boat to Tangier by K. Barry
237. Solitary by A. Woodfox
236. Circe by Miller
235. The Golden Spruce by Vaillant
234. Shores beyond Shores by Irene Butter
233. A Lucky Man by Jamel Brinkley
232. Sapiens by Harari
231. Salvage the Bones by J Ward
230. The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
229. The Fifth Season by Jemison
228. How to Change your mind by M. Pollan
227. Lincoln in the Bardo by Saunders
226.The Beautiful Forevers by
225. Kindred by Octavia Butler
224. The Emigrants by Sebald
223. Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
222. Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
221. Rufus by Phoebe Sheldon
220. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles (group pick)
219. The Billionaire's Vinegar: The Mystery of the World's Most Expensive Bottle of Wine by Benjamin Wallace at Neil's
218. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood at Jim's
217. The North Water by Ian McGuire at Peter H's
216. How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Moshin Hamid at Evan's
215. Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson at Dan's
214. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi at Bruce's
213. Hunger by Roxanne Gay at Barry's
212. Tigerman by Nick Harkaway at Peter Elder's
211. The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin at Neil's
210. The Circle by Dave Eggers at Paul's
209. Dueling with Kings by Daniel Barbarisi at Evans
208. The Shell Collector and Other Stories by Anthony Doerr at Jim's
207. Spartina by John Casey
206. Dissident Gardens by J Lethem
205. Ka Boom by Bryan Adams
204. Hurricane Island by ?
203. King of the World by ?
202. Never Home by Hunt
201. Between the World and Me. T. Coates
200. Spider in the Tree by Susan Stinson
199. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
198. Memory Wall by A Doerr
197. What we talk about when we talk about Ann Frank. by N. Englander
196. The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
195. Brewster by Sloula
194. Ready Player One
193. All the light you cannot see
192. Tale for the Time being
191. All the Kings Men
190. Second Person singular by Kashua
189. Love in the Time of Climate Change
188. A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra
187. Take Me Home
186. The Anthologist by Baker
185. Light Years by Salter
184. Land of the Blind
183. The Road to Burgundy
182. Song Unsung
181. A drink before the War
180. The Given Day by D. Lehane
179. Long Division
178. The Righteous Mind by Haidt
177. Train Dreams by Denis Johnson
176. Arcadia
175. Immortal Life of Henrietaa Lacks
174. Unbroken
173.Lost Memory of Skin by Banks
172. The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson
171. A Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
170. In the Fall by Jeffery Lent
169. The Road. C. McCarthy (DF)
168. White Noise. D. Delillo. (EB)
167. The Finkler Question. H Jacobson (BF)
166. The Gift of Rain (SW)
165. Super sad true love story G. Steingart (jhd)
164. The sense of an ending by Julian Barnes (SH)
163. Sweeping Up Glass (kh)
162. Let the great world spin by Colum McCann (PKL)
161. Infidel (PH)
160. wine and war (NK)
159. By Nightfall (ps)
158. A visit from the goon squad by Jennifer Egan (JS )
157. River of Doubt (DF)
156. Felicia's journey (bf)
155. Tinkers by Paul Harding (EB)
154. Angels Game (sw)
153. When a heart turns rock solid(jhd)
152. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini(sh)
151. Called to Serve by T Weiner(kh)
150. Things we didn't see coming by Steve Amsterdam (PKL)
149. Ghostwritten by D. Mitchell (PH)
148. Just Kids by P Smith (NK)
147. this is where i leave you by Jonathan Tropper
146. Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson (JS)
145. Freakonomics by Steven Dubner (DF)
144. Runaway by Alice Munro (EB)
143. Cutting for Stone by Verghese (SW)
142. that old cape magic by Richard Russo (BF)
141. Feed by MT anderson (JHD)
140. Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie (SH)
139. the girl with the Dragon Tatoo by Stieg Larsson (PKL)
138. Unaccustomed Earth by Lahiri (PH)
137. City of thieves by Benioff (NK)
136. Terrorist by Updike (PS)
135. the White Tiger (JS)
134. The Glass Castle (DF)
133. The Brothers K by David Duncan (EB)
132. The Piano Tuner by Mason (SW)
131. Consider the Lobster by David Foster Wallace(BF)
130. Neverland by O'neill (JHD)
129. You are not a stranger by Haslet (KH)
128. Rising from the Rails by Larry Tye (SH)
127. Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Diaz (PKL)
126. Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson (PH)
125. History of Love by Kraus (PS)
124. Quiet Girl by Hoeg (NK)
123. Out stealing Horses by Petterson (JS)
122. Collapse by J. Diamond (DF)
121. Animal Vegetable and Miracle by Kingsolver (SW)
120. Yiddish Policeman's Union by Chabon (EB)
119. Dark Voyage by Furst (JHD)
118.The Emporer's Children by Messud. (BF)
117. Suite Francais by Nemirovsky (SH)
116. What is the What by Eggers (PKL)
115. Seeing by Saramago (PH)
114. Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen (NK)
113. Quarentine by Crace (PS)
112. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Foer (JS)
111. Waiting for Snow in Havana by Carloe Eire (DF)
110. After Lucy by Dan Jones (EB)
109. Thirteen Moons by Frazier (SW)
108. Absurdistan by Shteyngart (JHD)
107. The book of Illusions by Paul Auster (BF)
106. The Sports Writer by Richard Ford (SH)
105. Fearless Jones by Walter Mosely (PKL)
104. The End of Faith by Sam Harris (PH)
103. How to be good by Nick Hornby (NK)
102. The Blind Assasin by Margret Atwood (PS)
101. The things they carried by Tim O'Brien (JS)