What Is the What

by Dave Eggers

Valentino Achak Deng’s journey as a Sudanese “Lost Boy” fleeing civil war is deeply human, even funny at times. What hit me most was the question in the title: What is the What? It’s the thing you hold onto when everything else is gone. What keeps us going when things get tough? For Deng, it was the hope of education, safety and something better.