Chinua Achebe (1930–2013) was born in Nigeria. Widely considered to be the father of modern African literature, he is best known for his masterful African Trilogy, consisting of Things Fall Apart, Arrow of God, and No Longer at Ease. The trilogy tells the story of a single Nigerian community over three generations from first colonial contact to urban migration and the breakdown of traditional cultures. He is also the author of Anthills of the Savannah, A Man of the People, Girls at War and Other Stories, Home and Exile, Hopes and Impediments, Collected Poems, The Education of a British-Protected Child, Chike and the River, and There Was a Country. He was the David and Marianna Fisher University Professor and Professor of Africana Studies at Brown University and, for more than fifteen years, was the Charles P. Stevenson Jr. Professor of Languages and Literature at Bard College. Achebe was the recipient of the Nigerian National Merit Award, Nigeria’s highest award for intellectual achievement. In 2007, Achebe was awarded the Man Booker International Prize for lifetime achievement.
"Eloquent. . . . Passionate. . . . Achebe's influence should go on
and on . . . teaching and reminding us that all humankind is
one."
--The Nation
"A master narrative."
--The New York Times Book Review
"Spare and moving... The many admirers of Achebe's fiction will
find here a rare opportunity to glimpse a bit of the man behind the
monumental novels."
--Chicago Tribune
"Soulful... A book that anyone concerned with advancing social
justice and human dignity should read.
--The Seattle Times
To love Achebe is to love Africa and language. As he is Africa's most prominent novelist and critic, this book's 100-plus pages don't seem ample enough to chronicle the development of such an extraordinary intellectual and literary talent. Furthermore, because of his lyrical prose and accessible ideas, at the end one is left desiring more of Achebe's ruminations (both serious and humorous) on empire, postcolonialism, Western writers (e.g., Joseph Conrad, Graham Greene, and Elspeth Huxley) on Africa, universal culture, and expatriation and exile. Reading Achebe is to know Africa in a way that few are able to tell. Achebe weaves anecdotes from his childhood, schooling, and writing life with African proverbs and literary and political theory to contribute beautifully to the "process of `re-storying' peoples who had been knocked silent by the trauma of all kinds of dispossession." His passion and truth are sensuous and contagious, warming one's soul. Highly recommended for all libraries.--Sherri Barnes, Univ. of California Lib., Santa Barbara Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.
"Eloquent. . . . Passionate. . . . Achebe's influence should go on
and on . . . teaching and reminding us that all humankind is
one."
--The Nation
"A master narrative."
--The New York Times Book Review
"Spare and moving... The many admirers of Achebe's fiction
will find here a rare opportunity to glimpse a bit of the man
behind the monumental novels."
--Chicago Tribune
"Soulful... A book that anyone concerned with advancing social
justice and human dignity should read.
--The Seattle Times
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