Synopses & Reviews
MY FIRST COUP D'ETAT is a literary nonfiction account that charts the coming of age of John Dramani Mahama in Ghana during the dismal post-independence "lost decades" of Africa. He was seven years old when rumors of that first coup reached his boarding school in Accra. His father was suddenly missing. "It is sometimes incorrectly referred to in texts as a bloodless coup, yet it was anything but," Mahama writes. "They tried, as best they could, with smiles and toffee, to shield me from their rising anxiety but I could feel it bouncing off the quick sideways glances they shot one another and taking flight like some dark, winged creature." John's father, a Minister of State, was in prison for more than a year.
MY FIRST COUP D'ETAT offers a look at the country that has long been considered Africa's success story--from its founding as the first sub-Saharan nation to gain independence, to its current status as the only nation on the continent to have, thus far, met the majority of targets on hunger, poverty, and education set by the U.N. But these stories work on many levels--as fables, as history, as cultural and political analysis, and of course as the memoir of a young man who, unbeknownst to him or anyone else, is destined to become a leader in his own land. These are stories that rise above their specific settings and transport the reader--much like the stories of Isaac Bashevis Singer and Nadine Gordimer--into a world all their own, one which straddles a time lost and explores the universal human emotions of love, fear, faith, despair, loss, longing, and hope despite all else.
Review
“A graceful memoir and striking literary debut…A collection of remarkable vignettes that blend a historians sensibility with a novelists prose, Mahama captures the evolution of that consciousness and, with it, glimpses of a nations recovered soul.”—Washington Post
“This is no typical political memoir. Rather it is the engaging story of a boy coming of age in the “lost decades” of military rule in Ghana that preceded multiparty democracy. Mahama tells it tenderly and well, weaving small slices of history and culture into a family narrative so rich in colour it at times feels like magical realism… Mahama has given us a useful reminder of the bad old days yet the real value of his book lies in its depiction of ordinary life in a time of turmoil - and of how people adapt and carry on regardless.”—Financial Times
"Mr. Mahama is at his best in describing this vanished world. He does so with the eye of a historian and the flair of a novelist…At times the lost world he describes seems almost magical, as if it were populated by fairies and demons rather than real people… His stories overflow with humanity."—Wall Street Journal"With crisp yet sweeping prose, John Mahamas memoir, My First Coup dEtat, provides insights into Ghanas, and by extension, Africas struggle to weather its historical burden and engage with a world much removed from her dilemma. Without sentimentality or condescension, he exposes homegrown African pathologies and helps us understand several contradictions of our postcolonial condition. His is a much welcome work of immense relevance to African studies and deserves serious critical attention." —Chinua Achebe
"These stories reminded me of Isaac Bashevis Singer, whose memories of a vanished world feel half like memoir and half like fairy tale. Readers will be charmed by them. They brim with humanity." —Andrew Solomon, author of the National Book Award-winning The Noonday Demon "Eloquent."—Newsweek
“My First Coup dEtat shows an uncommon literary ambition . . . His elegant memoir of those crucible decades lets us see the times that forged his generation as more than just a succession of defaults and dictators.” —newrepublic.com "Affecting and revealing…Ghanaian readers might see this memoir by a current officeholder as a political instrument; others will mainly enjoy the well-crafted anecdotes and images of an Africa that no longer exists." —Foreign Affairs
"Mahamas stories lure the reader into an unforgettable journey in which he interacts with history as a living tissue. The characters and the episodes are part of the everyday but one imbued with magic and suggestive power that go beyond the concrete and the palpable to hint at history in motion." —Ngũgĩ wa Thiongo, author of Weep Not, Child
"Warm and engaging. The view of a complex world in microcosm." —Aminatta Forna, author of the Commonwealth Book Prize-winning The Memory of Love
"In fluid, unpretentious style, Mahama unspools Ghanas recent history via entertaining and enlightening personal anecdotes."—Publishers Weekly
"Sensitive, honest autobiographical essays… A wonderfully intimate look at the convulsive changes, and deep scarring, in post-colonial Africa."—Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Mr. Mahama is at his best in describing this vanished world. He does so with the eye of a historian and the flair of a novelist…At times the lost world he describes seems almost magical, as if it were populated by fairies and demons rather than real people… His stories overflow with humanity."—Wall Street Journal"With crisp yet sweeping prose, John Mahamas memoir, My First Coup dEtat, provides insights into Ghanas, and by extension, Africas struggle to weather its historical burden and engage with a world much removed from her dilemma. Without sentimentality or condescension, he exposes homegrown African pathologies and helps us understand several contradictions of our postcolonial condition. His is a much welcome work of immense relevance to African studies and deserves serious critical attention." —Chinua Achebe"These stories reminded me of Isaac Bashevis Singer, whose memories of a vanished world feel half like memoir and half like fairy tale. Readers will be charmed by them. They brim with humanity." —Andrew Solomon, author of the National Book Award-winning The Noonday Demon"Mahamas stories lure the reader into an unforgettable journey in which he interacts with history as a living tissue. The characters and the episodes are part of the everyday but one imbued with magic and suggestive power that go beyond the concrete and the palpable to hint at history in motion." —Ngũgĩ wa Thiongo, author of Weep Not, Child"Warm and engaging. The view of a complex world in microcosm." —Aminatta Forna, author of the Commonwealth Book Prize-winning The Memory of Love"In fluid, unpretentious style, Mahama unspools Ghanas recent history via entertaining and enlightening personal anecdotes."—Publishers Weekly "Sensitive, honest autobiographical essays… A wonderfully intimate look at the convulsive changes, and deep scarring, in post-colonial Africa."—Kirkus Reviews
Review
“This is no typical political memoir. Rather it is the engaging story of a boy coming of age in the “lost decades” of military rule in Ghana that preceded multiparty democracy. Mahama tells it tenderly and well, weaving small slices of history and culture into a family narrative so rich in colour it at times feels like magical realism… Mahama has given us a useful reminder of the bad old days yet the real value of his book lies in its depiction of ordinary life in a time of turmoil - and of how people adapt and carry on regardless.”—Financial Times
"Mr. Mahama is at his best in describing this vanished world. He does so with the eye of a historian and the flair of a novelist…At times the lost world he describes seems almost magical, as if it were populated by fairies and demons rather than real people… His stories overflow with humanity."—Wall Street Journal"With crisp yet sweeping prose, John Mahamas memoir, My First Coup dEtat, provides insights into Ghanas, and by extension, Africas struggle to weather its historical burden and engage with a world much removed from her dilemma. Without sentimentality or condescension, he exposes homegrown African pathologies and helps us understand several contradictions of our postcolonial condition. His is a much welcome work of immense relevance to African studies and deserves serious critical attention." —Chinua Achebe
"These stories reminded me of Isaac Bashevis Singer, whose memories of a vanished world feel half like memoir and half like fairy tale. Readers will be charmed by them. They brim with humanity." —Andrew Solomon, author of the National Book Award-winning The Noonday Demon
"Mahamas stories lure the reader into an unforgettable journey in which he interacts with history as a living tissue. The characters and the episodes are part of the everyday but one imbued with magic and suggestive power that go beyond the concrete and the palpable to hint at history in motion." —Ngũgĩ wa Thiongo, author of Weep Not, Child
"Warm and engaging. The view of a complex world in microcosm." —Aminatta Forna, author of the Commonwealth Book Prize-winning The Memory of Love
"In fluid, unpretentious style, Mahama unspools Ghanas recent history via entertaining and enlightening personal anecdotes."—Publishers Weekly
"Sensitive, honest autobiographical essays… A wonderfully intimate look at the convulsive changes, and deep scarring, in post-colonial Africa."—Kirkus Reviews
Review
“A graceful memoir and striking literary debut…A collection of remarkable vignettes that blend a historians sensibility with a novelists prose, Mahama captures the evolution of that consciousness and, with it, glimpses of a nations recovered soul.”—Washington Post
“This is no typical political memoir. Rather it is the engaging story of a boy coming of age in the “lost decades” of military rule in Ghana that preceded multiparty democracy. Mahama tells it tenderly and well, weaving small slices of history and culture into a family narrative so rich in colour it at times feels like magical realism… Mahama has given us a useful reminder of the bad old days yet the real value of his book lies in its depiction of ordinary life in a time of turmoil - and of how people adapt and carry on regardless.”—Financial Times
"Mr. Mahama is at his best in describing this vanished world. He does so with the eye of a historian and the flair of a novelist…At times the lost world he describes seems almost magical, as if it were populated by fairies and demons rather than real people… His stories overflow with humanity."—Wall Street Journal"With crisp yet sweeping prose, John Mahamas memoir, My First Coup dEtat, provides insights into Ghanas, and by extension, Africas struggle to weather its historical burden and engage with a world much removed from her dilemma. Without sentimentality or condescension, he exposes homegrown African pathologies and helps us understand several contradictions of our postcolonial condition. His is a much welcome work of immense relevance to African studies and deserves serious critical attention." —Chinua Achebe
"These stories reminded me of Isaac Bashevis Singer, whose memories of a vanished world feel half like memoir and half like fairy tale. Readers will be charmed by them. They brim with humanity." —Andrew Solomon, author of the National Book Award-winning The Noonday Demon
“My First Coup dEtat shows an uncommon literary ambition . . . His elegant memoir of those crucible decades lets us see the times that forged his generation as more than just a succession of defaults and dictators.”—newrepublic.com "Mahamas stories lure the reader into an unforgettable journey in which he interacts with history as a living tissue. The characters and the episodes are part of the everyday but one imbued with magic and suggestive power that go beyond the concrete and the palpable to hint at history in motion." —Ngũgĩ wa Thiongo, author of Weep Not, Child
"Warm and engaging. The view of a complex world in microcosm." —Aminatta Forna, author of the Commonwealth Book Prize-winning The Memory of Love
"In fluid, unpretentious style, Mahama unspools Ghanas recent history via entertaining and enlightening personal anecdotes."—Publishers Weekly
"Sensitive, honest autobiographical essays… A wonderfully intimate look at the convulsive changes, and deep scarring, in post-colonial Africa."—Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
My First Coup d'Etat chronicles the coming-of-age of John Dramani Mahama in Ghana during the dismal post-independence "lost decades" of Africa. He was seven years old when rumors of a coup reached his boarding school in Accra. His father, a minister of state, was imprisoned for more than a year.
My First Coup d'Etat offers an intimate look at the country that has long been considered Africa's success story. This is a one-of-a-kind book: Mahama's is a rare literary voice from a political leader, and his personal stories work on many levels--as history, as cultural and political analysis, as fables, and, of course, as the memoir of a young man who unbeknownst to him or anything else, would grow up to be president of his nation. Though nonfiction, these are stories that rise above their specific settings and transport the reader into a world all their own, one that evokes the universal human emotions of love, fear, faith, despair, loss, longing, and hope despite all else.
Synopsis
My First Coup D'Etat chronicles the coming-of-age of John Dramani Mahama in Ghana during the dismal post-independence "lost decades" of Africa. He was seven years old when rumors of a coup reached his boarding school in Accra. His father, a minister of state, was imprisoned for more than a year.My First Coup D'Etat offers an intimate look at the country that has long been considered Africa's success story. This is a one-of-a-kind book: Mahama's is a rare literary voice from a political leader, and his personal stories work on many levels--as history, as cultural and political analysis, as fables, and, of course, as the memoir of a young man who, unbeknownst to him or anyone else, would grow up to be vice president of his nation. Though non-fiction, these are stories that rise above their specific settings and transport the reader into a world all their own, one which evokes a time lost and explores the universal human emotions of love, fear, faith, despair, loss, longing, and hope despite all else.
Synopsis
My First Coup D'Etat chronicles the coming-of-age of John Dramani Mahama in Ghana during the dismal post-independence "lost decades" of Africa. He was seven years old when rumors of a coup reached his boarding school in Accra. His father, a minister of state, was imprisoned for more than a year. My First Coup D'Etat offers an intimate look at the country that has long been considered Africa's success story. This is a one-of-a-kind book: Mahama's is a rare literary voice from a political leader, and his personal stories work on many levels--as history, as cultural and political analysis, as fables, and, of course, as the memoir of a young man who, unbeknownst to him or anyone else, would grow up to be vice president of his nation. Though non-fiction, these are stories that rise above their specific settings and transport the reader into a world all their own, one which evokes a time lost and explores the universal human emotions of love, fear, faith, despair, loss, longing, and hope despite all else.
Synopsis
From the Vice President of Ghana, a coming-of-age memoir in the form of fable-like tales of the little-written-about post-colonial years in the country widely hailed as Africa's success story-- and of the burgeoning political consciousness of a young man destined to become a leader in his land. "They brim with humanity." --Andrew Solomon
Synopsis
From the President of Ghana, a coming-of-age memoir about the little-written-about post-colonial years in the country widely hailed as Africa's success story--"a much welcome work of immense relevance."--Chinua Achebe
Synopsis
My First Coup d'Etat chronicles the coming-of-age of John Dramani Mahama in Ghana during the dismal post-independence "lost decades" of Africa. He was seven years old when rumors of a coup reached his boarding school in Accra. His father, a minister of state, was imprisoned for more than a year.
My First Coup d'Etat offers an intimate look at the country that has long been considered Africa's success story. This is a one-of-a-kind book: Mahama's is a rare literary voice from a political leader, and his personal stories work on many levels--as history, as cultural and political analysis, as fables, and, of course, as the memoir of a young man who unbeknownst to him or anything else, would grow up to be president of his nation. Though nonfiction, these are stories that rise above their specific settings and transport the reader into a world all their own, one that evokes the universal human emotions of love, fear, faith, despair, loss, longing, and hope despite all else.
About the Author
John Dramani Mahama is a writer, historian, journalist, former member of Parliament and minister of state, and sitting president of the Republic of Ghana. This is his first book. He lives in Accra with his family and is currently at work on his second book.