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eBook editionsGods and Soldiers: The Penguin Anthology of Contemporary African Writingby Rob Spillman
Review-A-Day"One would do well to read this book because: a) Africa is larger than the United States, Europe, and China combined, and in our interdependent, globalized world, Africa's problems are our problems; b) African writing is, as Spillman argues in his introduction, entering a golden age due to a host of factors including rapid urbanization and expanding educational and economic opportunities, and is thereby 'ready for the international spotlight'; and c) these stories are really, really good." Paul Charles Griffin, The Brooklyn Rail (read the entire Brooklyn Rail review) Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:A one-of-a-kind collection showcasing the energy of new African literature Coming at a time when Africa and African writers are in the midst of a remarkable renaissance, Gods and Soldiers captures the vitality and urgency of African writing today. With stories from northern Arabic-speaking to southern Zulu-speaking writers, this collection conveys thirty different ways of approaching what it means to be African. Whether about life in the new urban melting pots of Cape Town and Luanda, or amid the battlefield chaos of Zimbabwe and Somalia, or set in the imaginary surreal landscapes born out of the oral storytelling tradition, these stories represent a striking cross section of extraordinary writing. Including works by J. M. Coetzee, Chimamanda Adichie, Nuruddin Farah, Binyavanga Wainaina, and Chinua Achebe, and edited by Rob Spillman of Tin House magazine, Gods and Soldiers features many pieces never before published, making it a vibrant and essential glimpse of Africa as it enters the twenty-first century. Review:"Spillman, editor and cofounder of lit journal Tin House, brings together a diaspora full of urgency and possibility, featuring recent fiction and nonfiction (mostly fiction) from 30 African authors. First up is Chinua Achebe, author of the groundbreaking Things Fall Apart, looking at North African writers often excluded from the canon, reminding readers that Africa is far from homogeneous (entries come translated from Arabic, Zulu, French and other languages). Each piece finds a human story to illuminate the continent's history of plight and promise, turning up a range of voices: Helon Habila's breathtaking tale of a political prisoner forced to write poems for the prison superintendent's girlfriend; a scene from Ngugi wa Thong'o's novel Wizard of the Crow depicting an Orwellian celebration for an unnamed ruler; Patrice Nganang's essay 'The Senghor Complex' examining the influence of poet Lopold Senghor, Senegal's first president ('[for] writers of my generation,' he's 'everyone's grandfather'). This collection sheds light on a multifarious continent too often thought of in one-size-fits-all terms." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.) About the AuthorRob Spillman is editor and cofounder of Tin House, a bicoastal literary magazine, executive editor of Tin House Books, and cofounder of the Tin House Literary Festival. His writing has appeared in The New York Times Book Review, Rolling Stone, and Salon, among others. Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction by Rob Spillman Map of Africa West Africa Nonfiction Chinua Achebe ♦ Nigeria "The African Writer and the English Language" Fiction Helon Habila ♦ Nigeria "Lomba" Mohammed Naseehu Ali ♦ Ghana "The Manhood Test" Chris Abani ♦ Nigeria from Becoming Abigail E. C. Osondu ♦ Nigeria "Voice of America" Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ♦ Nigeria from Half of a Yelllow Sun Francophone Africa Nonfiction Patrice Nganang ♦ Cameroon "The Senghor Complex" Fiction Alain Mabanckou ♦Republic of Congo from Broken Glass Fatou Diome ♦ Senegal from The Belly of the Atlantic Boubacar Boris Diop ♦ Senegal from Murambi, The Book of Bones North Africa Nonfiction Laila Lalami ♦ Morocco "The Politics of Reading" Fiction Nawal El Saadawi ♦ Egypt from Woman at Point Zero Mohamed Magani ♦ Algeria from The Butcher's Aesthetic Aziz Chouaki ♦ Algeria from The Star of Algiers Leila Aboulela ♦ Sudan "Souvenirs" East Africa Nonfiction Binyavanga Wainaina ♦ Kenya from Discovering Home Fiction Ngugi wa Thiong'o ♦ Kenya from Wizard of the Crow Doreen Baingana ♦ Uganda "Christianity Killed the Cat" Nuruddin Farah ♦ Somalia from Knots Abdourahman A. Waberi ♦ Djibouti from The United States of Africa Former Portuguese Colonies Nonfiction Mia Couto ♦ Mozambique "Languages We Don't Know We Know" Fiction Ondjaki ♦ Angola "Dragonfly" Jose Eduardo Agualusa ♦ Angola from The Book of Chameleons Southern Africa Nonfiction J. M. Coetzee ♦ South Africa "The Memoirs of Breyten Breytenbach" Fiction Yvonne Vera ♦ Zimbabwe "Dead Swimmers" Niq Mhlongo ♦ South Africa from Dog Eat Dog Nadine Gordimer ♦ South Africa "A Beneficiary" Marlene van Niekerk ♦ South Africa from Agaat Zakes Mda ♦ South Africa from Ways of Dying Ivan Vladislavic ♦ South Africa "The WHITES ONLY Bench" Biographical Notes What Our Readers Are SayingBe the first to add a comment for a chance to win!Product Details
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