A giant of African literature whose best works existed between the political and the personal, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o was warm, funny and friendly – and liked to bet on my pool gamesAmong the African writers who emerged in the middle of the 20th century, the most political undoubtedly was Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o. Born in Kenya while it was still under British rule he was anti-colonialist, a communist, anti-dictatorial, and an almost militant proponent for African languages being used for African literature.His best works exist at the interface between the political and the personal. His first book of essays, Homecoming, is at once engaging and polemical. His early novels Weep Not, Child and A Grain of Wheat look at the impact of colonialism and the Mau Mau rebellion on individual lives. He was strangely at his best with the personal and the intimate, but his reputation grew more from his political stances – first against the British government, then against the dictatorship in Kenya in the 70s. He was jailed not for a thundering political text but for a play in Kikuyu called I Will Marry When I Want. In prison he wrote his memoir on toilet paper. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2025-05-30 16:36:34 UTC ]
“I’m fascinated by stories of how the various plant specimens we take for granted today were originally discovered,” says the actor, whose latest book is “Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years.” Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2019-12-05 10:00:03 UTC ]
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Led by sales of such of powerhouse titles as Delia Owen's wildly popular novel 'Where the Crawdads Sing' on the fiction list, and Michelle Obama's memoir 'Becoming' for nonfiction, Amazon released lists of the e-tailers top selling books of 2019. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-12-05 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Storybound is a radio theater program designed for the podcast age. Hosted by Jude Brewer and with original music composed for each episode, the podcast features the voices of today’s literary icons reading their essays, poems, and fiction. In our first episode, Mitch Albom reads an excerpt from... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2019-12-03 09:47:32 UTC ]
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Of Bohumil Hrabal’s six great loves, guess how many were cats? (Hint: almost all of them.) | Lit Hub Memoir The car culture that’s helping destroy the planet was by no means inevitable: on the relentless campaign to force Americans to accept the automobile. | Lit Hub History Here are the 78 best... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2019-11-30 12:30:39 UTC ]
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“UNLIKE MOST JEWISH BOYS from New Jersey, I have a Jamaican accent,” writes Ross Kenneth Urken in Another Mother, his memoir in which he goes in search of both his recollections of the Jamaican nanny who raised him and all of the things he never knew about her before she died. He writes,... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2019-11-24 20:00:33 UTC ]
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THE QUEER COMING-OF-AGE MEMOIR is a weapon against erasure. The best of these memoirs move us by daring to be profoundly specific, providing a necessary consolation to readers who might have believed until then that they were alone in the dark. That their suffering would have no choice but to... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2019-11-24 13:30:59 UTC ]
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If Michelle Obama's memoir left you looking for more of the same, you're not alone. Check out these books like BECOMING and fill that hole in your heart. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2019-11-20 11:36:56 UTC ]
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Elton John was greeted by a standing ovation last night as the legendary singer took to the stage to discuss his life in the spotlight. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-11-19 16:03:01 UTC ]
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Henry Barajas’ Latinx memoir and graphic biography of his social activist great-grandfather, 'La Voz de M.A.Y.O.: Tata Rambo' with art by J. Gonzo, will be published this month by Image Comics. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-11-19 05:00:00 UTC ]
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I first encountered Carmen Maria Machado in 2016, reading her short fiction “Horror Story” in Granta. Her innovative and acclaimed debut collection Her Body and Other Parties had not yet been published, but I scourged the internet for everything I could find. What I found were stories about... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2019-11-15 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Comedian and actor Alan Davies is publishing a memoir, Just Ignore Him, with Little, Brown. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-11-15 09:50:15 UTC ]
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Michael O’Mara Books is to publish a memoir by Jay Jayamohan, a consultant paediatric neurosurgeon at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, and star of the acclaimed BBC fly-on-the-wall series Brain Doctors. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-11-15 05:03:30 UTC ]
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Carmen Maria Machado explains why she dedicated a chapter of her new book to recapping a sci-fi show from the ‘90s. Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2019-11-14 23:07:23 UTC ]
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Altan’s cri de coeur is a timeless testament to the art and power of writing amid Orwellian repression. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2019-11-14 18:01:28 UTC ]
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Orlando Patterson’s “The Confounding Island” is a sociologist’s analysis of his birthplace as well as a personal memoir of affection and failure. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2019-11-13 19:00:09 UTC ]
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NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has claimed his memoir Permanent Record has been censored in China, saying it breaks the terms of his publishing agreement. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-11-13 03:25:45 UTC ]
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Virtually none of us will ever know what Ahmet Altan has gone through, and continues to live through. After the 2016 Turkish coup d’etat attempt, the writer was arrested along with his brother on such claims as “sending subliminal messages to coup supporters.” In 2018, they were sentenced to... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2019-11-11 12:00:01 UTC ]
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Caren Beilin’s new book, Blackfishing the IUD (Wolfman Books, 2019), is a memoir about reproductive health and the IUD, gendered medical gaslighting, and activism in the chronic illness community. Beilin considers the copper IUD’s role in triggering her sudden onset rheumatoid arthritis. She... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2019-11-08 09:47:44 UTC ]
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“A Warning” is the latest and most unusual tell-all political memoir to emerge from President Trump’s administration. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2019-11-08 06:50:32 UTC ]
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Adam Kay’s junior doctor memoir racked up impressive sales over the course of the year and topped the chart, but a self-published title was hot on its heels in second spot. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-11-08 05:28:53 UTC ]
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