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An African Quilt: 24 Modern African Stories
Encompassing many different visions of Africa, the stories in this comprehensive collection feature characters struggling to survive grinding poverty, tyrannical governments, cultural upheavals, and disintegrating relationships.
Reflecting a continent with a tragic history, An African Quilt depicts a place where even everyday life is extraordinary, and the continent’s history changes what it means to be a woman, an employee, a couple, a passerby, and, of course, a citizen. Revealed through the backdrop of postcolonial Africa, the struggles within these stories resonate beyond their context and appeal to every reader’s sense of what it means to be human.
Includes Stories by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Nadine Gordimer (Winner of the Nobel Prize), Bessie Head, Doris Lessing (Winner of the Nobel Prize), Ngugi wa Thiong’o, and Others
Reflecting a continent with a tragic history, An African Quilt depicts a place where even everyday life is extraordinary, and the continent’s history changes what it means to be a woman, an employee, a couple, a passerby, and, of course, a citizen. Revealed through the backdrop of postcolonial Africa, the struggles within these stories resonate beyond their context and appeal to every reader’s sense of what it means to be human.
Includes Stories by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Nadine Gordimer (Winner of the Nobel Prize), Bessie Head, Doris Lessing (Winner of the Nobel Prize), Ngugi wa Thiong’o, and Others
400 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 31, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 25, 2013
The following is based on reading about ten stories:
It seemed that the stories were collected deliberately to give a highly depressing story of Africa. I am pretty sure that there must be some African stories which are "light", but they are not included in this collection.
Maybe they were present in the remaining fourteen.
It seemed that the stories were collected deliberately to give a highly depressing story of Africa. I am pretty sure that there must be some African stories which are "light", but they are not included in this collection.
Maybe they were present in the remaining fourteen.
January 16, 2024
This story collection comprises an impressive range of stories from 24 different authors including some more well-known such as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Doris Lessing to some much less well-known. While the collection did feel like it was over-represensted by Nigerian and South African writers, I think that the origin of the writers also represents where the hotspots of creativity and intellectualism are right now. This book seems like the perfect collection for an African Literature course where it could be thoughtfully paired with historical texts.
Some reviewers have said that the stories seemed to be overwhelmingly depressing. This is true, but that is the aftermath of a long and messy period of colonialism. Some favorites that I can remember (I read it on kindle and can't find a list of the stories online) are, of course, Nadine Gordimer's (one of my favorite writers of all-time) and Adichie's. Gordimer's story, in particular, is a masterful use of metaphor in describing a decaying colonial house as the legacy of the colonial era. If you're interested in African literature, this is a fantastic sampler from which to begin a deeper journey.
Some reviewers have said that the stories seemed to be overwhelmingly depressing. This is true, but that is the aftermath of a long and messy period of colonialism. Some favorites that I can remember (I read it on kindle and can't find a list of the stories online) are, of course, Nadine Gordimer's (one of my favorite writers of all-time) and Adichie's. Gordimer's story, in particular, is a masterful use of metaphor in describing a decaying colonial house as the legacy of the colonial era. If you're interested in African literature, this is a fantastic sampler from which to begin a deeper journey.
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May 26, 2019it was OK, once I started i realized I'd read it before
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews