BOY, SNOW, BIRD PLUS FAMILY AND FRIENDS

I’ve been on an African kick lately, as has the publishing industry, apparently. From Americanah to Half of a Yellow Sun to We Need New Names To TWhen The Crocodile Eats The Sun, it’s  a surprising accumulation of literary excellence. And the variety of voice and subjects is impressive. Harrowing lives under Robert Mugabe. The … Continue reading BOY, SNOW, BIRD PLUS FAMILY AND FRIENDS

RISING AND SETTING OF A YELLOW SUN

Chimamanda Ngoze Adiche sets her Half of a Yellow Sun in the midst of a war of secession as Biafra and her Igbo people try to separate themselves from Nigerian persecution and tyranny. The title image refers to the figure on the flag of a nation that never quite realized its sovereignty. My ignorance of Africa, … Continue reading RISING AND SETTING OF A YELLOW SUN

NEW NAMES FOR NEW LIVES

We Need New Names is my third recent foray into works by African ex-pats. There was Ngoze Adiche’s Americanah.  Before that, Peter Godwin’s memoir, When a Crocodile Eats the Sun. and now NoViolet Bulawayo brings us this lively, often painful, account of a Zimbabwean girl’s journey from her homeland to the U.S. At first, you think you’re … Continue reading NEW NAMES FOR NEW LIVES