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Wizard of the Crow

by Ngugi wa'Thiong'o

Wizard of the Crow Cover

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

In exile now for more than twenty years, Kenyan novelist, playwright, poet and critic Ngugi wa Thiong’o has become one of the most widely read African writers.

Commencing in “our times” and set in the fictional “Free Republic of Aburiria,” Wizard of the Crow dramatizes with corrosive humor and keenness of observation a battle for control of the souls of the Aburirian people. Fashioning the stories of the powerful and the ordinary into a dazzling mosaic, this magnificent novel reveals humanity in all its endlessly surprising complexity.

Review:

“In his crowded career and his eventful life, Ngugi has enacted, for all to see, the paradigmatic trials and quandaries of a contemporary African writer, caught in sometimes implacable political, social, racial, and linguistic currents.” —John Updike, The New Yorker

Review:

“An allegory presented as a modern-day folk tale (complete with tricksters, magic, disguised lovers and daring escapes). . . . Ngugi writes simply and unaffectedly about his characters. . . . It recalls a long yarn told by firelight.”The New York Times Book Review

Review:

“Ngugi is one of Africa’s greatest writers, and certainly the foremost voice of Kenyan literature. . . . Possibly the best comparison to make of Wizard of the Crow is with Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children.”

San Francisco Chronicle

Synopsis:

From an exiled Kenyan novelist comes this magisterial comic novel that reveals humanity in all its endlessly surprising complexity. Informed by richly enigmatic traditional African storytelling, this novel seamlessly blends stories of the powerful and the ordinary into a dazzling mosaic.

About the Author

Ngugi wa Thiong'o is the author of, among other works, Petals of Blood, Weep Not Child, The River Between, A Grain of Wheat, The Devil on the Cross, and Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature, now an essential text in post-colonial studies. Ngugi has argued that English is a "cultural bomb" that continues to erase pre-colonial cultures and history, even as it institutes new and more insiduous forms of colonialism. As Kenyan, he writes in his native Gikuyu, translating his works into English himself.

What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
aloysiuskwitonda, August 17, 2007 (view all comments by aloysiuskwitonda)
By writing, translating, and publishing this novel; Ngugi reached the long awaited desire that he first wished to have reached after the publication of A Grain of Wheat. It is the kind of novel that should be made available in all media to people who care about fellow human beings.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9781400033843
Author:
wa'Thiong'o, Ngugi
Publisher:
Anchor Books
Author:
Ngugi wa Thiong'o
Author:
Wa'thiong'o, Ngugi
Author:
Ngugi Wa Thiong'O
Subject:
Literary
Publication Date:
August 2007
Binding:
Paperback
Language:
English
Pages:
768
Dimensions:
8.11x5.37x1.35 in. 1.18 lbs.

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