Deng, Benson 1984(?)–

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Deng, Benson 1984(?)–

PERSONAL: Born c. 1984, in Sudan; immigrated to United States, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Home—San Diego, CA. Agent—c/o Author Mail, PublicAffairs, 250 W. 57th St., Ste. 1321, New York, NY 10107.

CAREER: Writer. Ralphs Grocery Store, Hillcrest, CA, employee for two years; Waste Management, El Cajon, CA, overseer of computer and digital photography system.

WRITINGS:

(With Benjamin Ajak, Judy Bernstein, and Alephonsion Deng) They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys from Sudan, PublicAffairs (New York, NY), 2005.

SIDELIGHTS: Benson Deng, his brother, Alephonsion Deng, and their cousin, Benjamin Ajak, are the authors (with the aid of Judy Bernstein) of They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys from Sudan. In 1987 Benson and Benjamin fled together from their village in the Sudan following its attack as part of an ongoing war between the Sudan People's Liberation Army and the Sudanese government that began in the 1980s. Two years later, Alephonsion also fled the village. After a decade or so of surviving almost entirely on their own, the three made it to the United States where they wrote their memoir together. Told in a series of essays, the stories recount the boys' many ordeals. For example, when Benson first fled, all he was wearing was his underwear, which remained his only clothing for the next three months as he traveled at night to avoid being found and likely murdered.

Critics were not only moved by the young men's story, but by its eloquence as well. Writing a review of They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky for the BookPage Web site, Anne Bartlett commented: "In lucid, sometimes lovely writing, the boys tell of hunger, exhaustion, fear and loss—all struggles that no child should have to bear." Writing in Library Journal, Maria C. Bagshaw commented that "these men reveal the constancy of human nature: missing a mother, happiness at finding a brother, the thirst for education, and a will to survive." In addition, a Publishers Weekly contributor noted that "this collection is moving in its depictions of unbelievable courage."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Ajak, Benjamin, Judy Bernstein, Alephonsion Deng, and Benson Deng, They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys from Sudan, PublicAffairs (New York, NY), 2005.