The Madness that is the Tattered Cover

If you know anything about Ryan and me, you understand that the Tattered Cover is one of the primary benefits of living in Denver. If you enjoy books and have never been to the Tattered Cover, you should get there now. But the Tattered Cover could merit an entire post of its own...so we will return to that topic later. Last night Ryan and I went to the Tattered Cover to hear the literary giant, Dave Eggers speak. While Eggers has had immense success with his first book, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, his literary contributions far exceed his own personal endeavors. He is the founder of the widely popular literary journal, McSweeny's and a monthly journal, The Believer, edited by his wife. If you get a chance to flip through a McSweeny's the next time you are at the Tattered Cover, you will understand both the time and the money Dave Eggers has poured into his publications. But even on top of all these contributions, Dave Eggers has emerged as a social activist.

His latest book, What is the What, has received marked critical acclaim and an immense public reception. Told through the perspective of a Lost Boy from Sudan, What is the What seeks to give a personal voice to a humanitarian crisis that has occurred during one of the most globally connected eras of history. First commissioned to write a more biographical account of the real story of Valentino Achak Deng, Dave Eggers eventually decided to combine Valentiono's own personal accounts with more fictional elements.

I have not read the book yet, and after hearing Eggers speak last night, I am very interested in picking up a copy. I admire Eggers for using his reputation to bring the crisis to the forefront of many Americans' minds; in our culture, different avenues of acquiring and dispersing knowledge have resulted in a vastly creative web of political activism. But I am also slightly disheartened by the method in which this narrative was written.

Dave Eggers assumes authority to tell Valentino's story; he essentially superimposes his presence and identity as an author over Valentino's identity. It is largely unfortunate that Valentino himself was not commissioned to write his own personal account because the transference of one man's personal experience into another man's story results in an immeasurable loss of authenticity. This is troubling due to the historical context we find ourselves in today. African nations are still recovering from the tragic effects of colonialism: an era in which the wealthy exploited the poor for economic gain, completely disregarding the cultural and economic consequences of such actions. Still today the lens of imperialism prevents many Western people from appreciating and accepting cultures different from our own. While Dave Eggers is using his book for social good, which should not be overlooked, there is a slight taste of post-colonial superiority (eg White man must reinterpret the African man's story in order to be successful). Again I have not read the book and so I am really not at liberty to offer my critical opinion, but the very preface of the novel does concern me.

What do you think?