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Reading Dave Eggers´ true story about a Sudanese fugitive boy reminded me of eating carrots. Now I like carrots, they´re healthy, crunchy and pleasantly orange. Whenever I´ve eaten a carrot I always feel I´ve done something good, somehow earned some brownie points. It is, however, not the kind of food that keeps you up at night craving more.

What is the what? is an exceptional book though. It details the struggles of one of Sudan´s Lost Boys, a group of thousands of boys who, without any adults, or even shoes, pursued by soldiers, bombs, hunger, lions and crocodiles, crossed Sudan on foot and, eventually, walked to Ethiopia.

The amazing thing is that it is an autobiography, ghostwritten by Dave Eggers, but without all the Eggerisms we know from A heartbreaking work of staggering genius. The story has been polished, some characters have been combined, some exagerated, but all in all, this is truely the voice of Valentino Achak Deng.

It´s also an awful story, where there´s so much violence and death and gore that it made me want to go for a little walk every now and again. Just when you think Achak has hit rock bottom there is still another thing that can go horribly, horribly wrong. Kudos for Dave Eggers who manages to stop it from becoming a sob story. That is quite a feat, because Achak has a terribly uncharmed life. Even once he gets out of the refugee camp bad luck and misery follow him like two faithful puppies and life in America is not the dream he imagined.

If, like me, you didn´t know much, or anything, about the conflict in Darfur, and you´ve been feeling slightly guilty about it, this is your chance and if you´re up for a wholesome meal of a book, this comes highly recommended. If, however, you´re up for a pleasant soak book, this is probably not it.

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