How long does it take to read What Is the What?
What Is the What by Dave Eggers takes about 9 hours 18 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
About 9 hours 18 minutes
A week or two of reading
First published 2006. 507 pages, about 139,425 words.
19 days at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 15 hours 30 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 9 hours 18 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 5 hours 49 minutes |
The page count is the median across 26 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
What Is the What is the epic novel based on the life of Valentino Achak Deng who, along with thousands of other children--the so-called Lost Boys--was forced to leave his village in Sudan at the age of seven and trek hundreds of miles by foot, pursued by militias, government bombers, and wild animals, crossing the deserts of three countries to find freedom. When he finally is resettled in the United States, he finds a life full of promise, but also heartache and myriad new challenges. Moving, suspenseful, and unexpectedly funny, What Is the What is an astonishing novel that illuminates the lives of millions through one extraordinary man. --From the Trade Paperback edition.
Subjects: United States in fiction, Sudanese in fiction, Valentino Achak deng in fiction, Fiction, Sudanese, Emigration and immigration
