Roy: what it’s all about

ON the basis that any newspaper article benefits from an infusion of sub-Saharan creation myth, we thought we’d give the place a bit of a shake-up this morning.

Any of you familiar with the work of Dave Eggers (McSweeney’s magazine, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, etc) will know where the title of his latest novel comes from. What Is The What? tells the story of Sudanese teenagers who, displaced by the civil war in their own country, travel to the United States, bringing their creation myth with them.

According to Sudanese tribes, mankind was originally offered a choice of two gifts by God — the Cow or the What. The Cow was a practical and useful gift, while the What was mysterious and unknown. A gamble.