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Love Is Power, or Something Like That: Stories
Vivid, powerful stories of contemporary Nigeria, from a talented young author
* One of the Millions's Most Anticipated Books of 2013 *
When it comes to love, things are not always what they seem. In contemporary Lagos, a young boy may pose as a woman online, and a maid may be suspected of sleeping with her employer and yet still become a young wife’s confidante. Men and women can be objects of fantasy, the subject of beery soliloquies. They can be trophies or status symbols. Or they can be overwhelming in their need.
In these wide-ranging stories, A. Igoni Barrett roams the streets with people from all stations of life. A man with acute halitosis navigates the chaos of the Lagos bus system. A minor policeman, full of the authority and corruption of his uniform, beats his wife. A family’s fortunes fall from love and wealth to infidelity and poverty as poor choices unfurl over three generations. With humor and tenderness, Barrett introduces us to an utterly modern Nigeria, where desire is a means to an end, and love is a power as real as money.
* One of the Millions's Most Anticipated Books of 2013 *
When it comes to love, things are not always what they seem. In contemporary Lagos, a young boy may pose as a woman online, and a maid may be suspected of sleeping with her employer and yet still become a young wife’s confidante. Men and women can be objects of fantasy, the subject of beery soliloquies. They can be trophies or status symbols. Or they can be overwhelming in their need.
In these wide-ranging stories, A. Igoni Barrett roams the streets with people from all stations of life. A man with acute halitosis navigates the chaos of the Lagos bus system. A minor policeman, full of the authority and corruption of his uniform, beats his wife. A family’s fortunes fall from love and wealth to infidelity and poverty as poor choices unfurl over three generations. With humor and tenderness, Barrett introduces us to an utterly modern Nigeria, where desire is a means to an end, and love is a power as real as money.
199 pages, Paperback
First published May 7, 2013
43 people are currently reading
2273 people want to read
About the author
A. Igoni Barrett
10 books127 followersAdrian Igoni Barrett was a winner of the BBC World Service short story competition for 2005. His first book, a collection of short stories entitled From Caves of Rotten Teeth, was first published in 2005 and reissued in 2008. In 2014 he was named on the Africa39 list of writers aged under 40 with potential and talent to define future trends in African literature.
His father is the Jamaican poet and novelist Lindsay Barrett.
His father is the Jamaican poet and novelist Lindsay Barrett.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 85 reviews
November 25, 2012
This forthcoming collection crackles with the chaotic energy of modern Nigeria. A young boy responsible for his family while his alcoholic mother flounders, a man who can't open his mouth for fear of his overwhelming halitosis, a man who pretends to be a woman to lure unsuspecting men from around the world, a corrupt police officer trying to understand the wrong in him... each story reveals people's deepest flaws, and the ways they try to overcome them.
January 5, 2014
The collection of nine stories by A. Igoni Barrett is a thought provoking read that gives a good start to a reading year. Most of these stories, except perhaps for the last one, are set in Nigeria. It is this setting that provides one of the greatest strengths for the collection. Nigeria is brought alive in these short stories, and for anyone that has remotely interacted with a Nigerian, they will see how truthfully they have been represented by Mr. Barrett.
Each of the short stories captures the reader’s attention, some better than others, but definitely makes one feel they have spent their time doing something worthy. By making them very visual, and largely uncomplicated in plot, Mr. Barrett allows the reader to easily access his stories. And the readers’ feelings and emotions sometimes become one with those of the characters as they search for love, understanding, and a place to belong.
In Nigeria, there are many ways that this can be done, which makes the nation quite peculiar. One needs to read Dream Chaser to see this. A young man makes a world of himself in a cyber café, preying upon the love and attention of white people in cyberspace.
Another young man, in the story The Shape of a Full Circle, watches the slow degradation of his alcoholic mother, and their landlord who will be soothed from kicking the family out by taking advantage of the poor woman.
The range of issues covered in all these short stories is wide enough to paint a kind of picture of Nigeria and the manner in which life is approached there. Though it might be a bit different with other African countries and cities, like Nairobi where I live, some realities are very much similar. Talk of dishonest and blood sucking Pentecostal preachers, as has been deeply and beautifully captured in Godspeed and Perpetua.
But for a laugh out loud moment, which Mr. Barret surely pulls off beautifully, one need only read My Smelling Mouth Problem. I first read this story in the 6th edition of Kwani?, a few years ago and I loved it very much. Now it felt fresh and full of life when I reread it, and would not hesitate to revisit it again in the future.
My problem with this collection of stories is with the story about Nairobi, which is where I live. It seems a prejudiced outsider’s view of the happenings, sort of cleverly aligned to make the seedier streets more ruthless than they are.
Igoni Barret is perhaps one of the most exciting young African writers that I have read in long time. His stories are unpretentious and they capture the life as is in the African continent. He has also largely been based here in the continent, unlike most other young writers of African descent that are based abroad. He is a writer that will definitely stay, and I will enjoy reading for as long as I find anything he writes.
Each of the short stories captures the reader’s attention, some better than others, but definitely makes one feel they have spent their time doing something worthy. By making them very visual, and largely uncomplicated in plot, Mr. Barrett allows the reader to easily access his stories. And the readers’ feelings and emotions sometimes become one with those of the characters as they search for love, understanding, and a place to belong.
In Nigeria, there are many ways that this can be done, which makes the nation quite peculiar. One needs to read Dream Chaser to see this. A young man makes a world of himself in a cyber café, preying upon the love and attention of white people in cyberspace.
Another young man, in the story The Shape of a Full Circle, watches the slow degradation of his alcoholic mother, and their landlord who will be soothed from kicking the family out by taking advantage of the poor woman.
The range of issues covered in all these short stories is wide enough to paint a kind of picture of Nigeria and the manner in which life is approached there. Though it might be a bit different with other African countries and cities, like Nairobi where I live, some realities are very much similar. Talk of dishonest and blood sucking Pentecostal preachers, as has been deeply and beautifully captured in Godspeed and Perpetua.
But for a laugh out loud moment, which Mr. Barret surely pulls off beautifully, one need only read My Smelling Mouth Problem. I first read this story in the 6th edition of Kwani?, a few years ago and I loved it very much. Now it felt fresh and full of life when I reread it, and would not hesitate to revisit it again in the future.
My problem with this collection of stories is with the story about Nairobi, which is where I live. It seems a prejudiced outsider’s view of the happenings, sort of cleverly aligned to make the seedier streets more ruthless than they are.
Igoni Barret is perhaps one of the most exciting young African writers that I have read in long time. His stories are unpretentious and they capture the life as is in the African continent. He has also largely been based here in the continent, unlike most other young writers of African descent that are based abroad. He is a writer that will definitely stay, and I will enjoy reading for as long as I find anything he writes.
March 24, 2015
Love is Power, or Something Like That hopefully heralds what I hope will be the breakthrough of a very talented writer. I read each of the nine stories with mounting excitement. There is not one false note or one less-than-sterling story in the bunch.
The theme is loosely about love (“Love means you make me happy until you don’t) but nothing even close to romance drives the stories. Rather, each is a furtive look into the flawed lives of damaged characters living in modern-day Nigeria…and focuses on the sometimes tragic, sometimes comedic, sometimes poignant, and sometimes misguided condition of the human heart.
In the eponymous story, a seething policeman – overinflated with a love of authority – becomes a tyrant when he dons his uniform, even to his wife. Yet Mr. Barrett does not indulge in one-dimensional characterizations: Eghobamien Adrawus is not only an abusive, ethically-compromised tyrant, he is also a loving father who craves the nurturing that his wife provides.
In another, Godspeed and Perpetua, Mr. Barrett autopsies the painfully slow unraveling of an arranged marriage between a Nigerian civil servant and his much younger and beautiful trophy wife. Mr. Barrett meticulously delineates the shifts between husband and wife and the power plays created by the unequal love of their daughter.
The Shape of a Full Circle, one of my favorites, introduces young teenager Dimi Abrakasa, who loses the family money that is meant to go towards food. The love/hate relationship he has with his alcoholic mother is beautifully rendered; when his mother has what she needs, she strikes out at him. Take these lines: “Her gaze was reptilian in its steadiness, and his eyes, luminous from despair, were the shape of a full circle. When Daoju Anabraba, s smile playing on her chapped lips, uttered the words, “I hate your eyes, my son,” he slapped her.”
Filled with betrayal, dejection and hope and cackling with energy and confidence, this wonderful collection renews my faith in the future of short stories. Ignoni Barrett can proudly take his place next to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and other celebrated contemporary Nigerian writers through his skillful renderings.
The theme is loosely about love (“Love means you make me happy until you don’t) but nothing even close to romance drives the stories. Rather, each is a furtive look into the flawed lives of damaged characters living in modern-day Nigeria…and focuses on the sometimes tragic, sometimes comedic, sometimes poignant, and sometimes misguided condition of the human heart.
In the eponymous story, a seething policeman – overinflated with a love of authority – becomes a tyrant when he dons his uniform, even to his wife. Yet Mr. Barrett does not indulge in one-dimensional characterizations: Eghobamien Adrawus is not only an abusive, ethically-compromised tyrant, he is also a loving father who craves the nurturing that his wife provides.
In another, Godspeed and Perpetua, Mr. Barrett autopsies the painfully slow unraveling of an arranged marriage between a Nigerian civil servant and his much younger and beautiful trophy wife. Mr. Barrett meticulously delineates the shifts between husband and wife and the power plays created by the unequal love of their daughter.
The Shape of a Full Circle, one of my favorites, introduces young teenager Dimi Abrakasa, who loses the family money that is meant to go towards food. The love/hate relationship he has with his alcoholic mother is beautifully rendered; when his mother has what she needs, she strikes out at him. Take these lines: “Her gaze was reptilian in its steadiness, and his eyes, luminous from despair, were the shape of a full circle. When Daoju Anabraba, s smile playing on her chapped lips, uttered the words, “I hate your eyes, my son,” he slapped her.”
Filled with betrayal, dejection and hope and cackling with energy and confidence, this wonderful collection renews my faith in the future of short stories. Ignoni Barrett can proudly take his place next to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and other celebrated contemporary Nigerian writers through his skillful renderings.
March 11, 2014
I think I like the "idea" of short stories more than I like short stories themselves. However, when well executed they can be magnificent. Same holds true for novellas - in some instances.
This group of nine short stories (eight based in Nigeria and one in Kenya) are well written - there's certainly no denying that. They also stick with you long after you've read them. You feel emotionally attached to several of these stories and they have a powerful intensity to them. However, I kept thinking there was something lacking that I just couldn't put my finger on and then it hit me. Some of these stories just never reached a satisfying conclusion for me. Not that they didn't end the way I would have preferred, but, they seemed to lose steam about a third of the way through. It's unfortunate because otherwise it's a good collection - withstanding that issue - with humor, heartbreak and love.
3.5 stars
My faves:
Godspeed and Perpetua (the best!)
The Little Girl with Budding Breasts and a Bubblegum Laugh
A Nairobi story of comings and goings
The Shape of a Full Circle
This group of nine short stories (eight based in Nigeria and one in Kenya) are well written - there's certainly no denying that. They also stick with you long after you've read them. You feel emotionally attached to several of these stories and they have a powerful intensity to them. However, I kept thinking there was something lacking that I just couldn't put my finger on and then it hit me. Some of these stories just never reached a satisfying conclusion for me. Not that they didn't end the way I would have preferred, but, they seemed to lose steam about a third of the way through. It's unfortunate because otherwise it's a good collection - withstanding that issue - with humor, heartbreak and love.
3.5 stars
My faves:
Godspeed and Perpetua (the best!)
The Little Girl with Budding Breasts and a Bubblegum Laugh
A Nairobi story of comings and goings
The Shape of a Full Circle
July 22, 2017
A collection of stories of uncommon power. A few did not grab, several wallopped me. A rich and talented writer.
November 14, 2024
I've been distracted for the last few weeks, understandably enough. Still, even if I were in the best of health, I don't think this would have done well in my estimation anyways. Sure, my last stint with short stories was an amazing slam dunk, but that was a different self still high on newly regained opportunities, and since then I've been hardline socketed even deeper into my customary bitter self than I would've thought possible prior to my diagnosis. These days, my appetite for the gritty postcolonial is limited, and the emotions I feed upon require a softer landing than the stories found here. I liked the closing "A Nairobi Story of Comings and Goings" the most, and looking back, I can identify effective endings ("Trophy"), middles ("The Shape of a Full Circle"), and concepts ("Dream Chaser"). Things and figures and motifs just ended up moving both too fast and too slow for me, as often happens while moving through narratives ranging from 40 to seven pages in length. In any case, I was able to move through it for the price of gas and whatever the hours of my weekend are worth, so all I can do is return my copy to the public library and wish it the best.
September 10, 2018
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L’amore è potere: subito leggiamo dal titolo due termini contrastanti o almeno che descrivono due cose molto diverse; all’interno dei nove racconti del libro vedremo spesso coesistere i sentimenti più fragili con le leggi più primitive e violente. Il protagonista è l’uomo, si parla d’amore, amicizia, sesso, famiglia. Tutto in una cornice di un mondo diverso e lontano dal nostro: l’Africa.
Racconti ambigui, con finali aperti in cui nulla è nessuno è completamente buono o cattivo. La caratteristica che mi è rimasta più impressa è la bravura dell’autore nel descrivere i piccoli dettagli permettendo così a chi legge di immaginare veramente i piccoli universi che crea lui di volta in volta in ogni storia, sono i dettagli secondari a dare intensità e forma alle cose. Recensione completa nel Blog (link all’inizio)
L’amore è potere: subito leggiamo dal titolo due termini contrastanti o almeno che descrivono due cose molto diverse; all’interno dei nove racconti del libro vedremo spesso coesistere i sentimenti più fragili con le leggi più primitive e violente. Il protagonista è l’uomo, si parla d’amore, amicizia, sesso, famiglia. Tutto in una cornice di un mondo diverso e lontano dal nostro: l’Africa.
Racconti ambigui, con finali aperti in cui nulla è nessuno è completamente buono o cattivo. La caratteristica che mi è rimasta più impressa è la bravura dell’autore nel descrivere i piccoli dettagli permettendo così a chi legge di immaginare veramente i piccoli universi che crea lui di volta in volta in ogni storia, sono i dettagli secondari a dare intensità e forma alle cose. Recensione completa nel Blog (link all’inizio)
June 19, 2020
No. Didn't finish this one. Got bored and was to actually start the 'Love is Power or something like that' story when my urge decided not all books should be read. And since I don't want to shelf it elsewhere, letting bygones be bygones. Done with this one.
May 6, 2018
Barrett is amazing at capturing a tone of a character in a few sentences - which makes these short stories more driven by the people they are about than the woefulness that befalls them. And woe is plentiful.
Never melodramatic, always slightly bitter without being nasty, we find each story kind of in the middle of the story - each ends with a trail that will continue long after this short interlude concludes. In part because each of these stories deals with "Love," not the love of wishfulfillment paperbacks or the love of romcoms or even the sweeping love of epic winter wind swept Russian novels. Barrett is more interested in the difficult and complicated and not always passionate or honest or helpful Love that we all experience.
For instance, the opening story, "The Worst Thing That Happened" deals with an aging mother whose children love her from a distance or ignore her completely, yet in helping a neighbor reconnects with her own sense of self. Or "Trophy" where the narrator befriends a man with a much more complicated set of circumstances than the narrator could ever manage himself.
Other stories deal with sexual abuse, love of career, a beloved child's act of defiance, and a story of how one man's awful breath and how he ended up at the dentist.
Leo, the white South African in the final story, stole my heart, and ends the book on the final epiphany - "Love means you make me happy, until you don't."
Overall a well done and original collection of love stories for people like me.
Never melodramatic, always slightly bitter without being nasty, we find each story kind of in the middle of the story - each ends with a trail that will continue long after this short interlude concludes. In part because each of these stories deals with "Love," not the love of wishfulfillment paperbacks or the love of romcoms or even the sweeping love of epic winter wind swept Russian novels. Barrett is more interested in the difficult and complicated and not always passionate or honest or helpful Love that we all experience.
For instance, the opening story, "The Worst Thing That Happened" deals with an aging mother whose children love her from a distance or ignore her completely, yet in helping a neighbor reconnects with her own sense of self. Or "Trophy" where the narrator befriends a man with a much more complicated set of circumstances than the narrator could ever manage himself.
Other stories deal with sexual abuse, love of career, a beloved child's act of defiance, and a story of how one man's awful breath and how he ended up at the dentist.
Leo, the white South African in the final story, stole my heart, and ends the book on the final epiphany - "Love means you make me happy, until you don't."
Overall a well done and original collection of love stories for people like me.
November 4, 2022
3.5 stars
May 2, 2018
A short story collection by a Nigerian author - I picked this up due to a Goodreads algorithm recommendation. It's interesting and often entertaining, with evocative descriptions and a good sense of pacing. Some of the stories are very good, though a couple are really unpleasant - I'm not sure if that was the author's intent or not. A running theme in these stories seems to be male violence, male incompetence, animalistic masculinity - from small children to grown men, there are very few characters that are not their own worst enemy. The sexuality on display is sometimes genuinely upsetting, with a few pubescent and even pre-pubescent girls given a certain amount of sexual maturity and agency in ways that I found very uncomfortable. This is not to say that there weren't good parts of these stories, of course, but some aspects were hard to stomach. The characters and day-in-the-life situations offer glimpses of people and societies that I have no lived experience of, and the pidgin dialogue helped immerse me in the lives of Igoni Barrett's characters. I think I'd like to read more of his work.
January 9, 2014
Without a doubt, this was the best book I picked up last year. Not only is the writing alive - with precise descriptions that crackle and leap off the page - but there is an attention here to characters that I can recognize (fully-formed African characters preoccupied with the problems of day-to-day living and loving); laugh-out-loud humor; unusual points of view; a sympathy for the characters' failings, and an overall rigor to the writing, as though the author is convinced that the stories he has to tell are new, fresh, relevant. And indeed they are! My favorites in this collection are: "Love Is Power, or Something Like That," "My Smelling Mouth Problem" (so ridiculously funny!), "The Little Girl with Budding Breasts and a Bubblegum Laugh" (so bold! so disturbing!), and "Godspeed and Perpetua" (deeply moving). And now it has occurred to me that I have just listed half the stories in the collection. Here's the truth: each story is delicious in its own way. Barrett has outdone himself. Infinitely re-readable.
August 9, 2015
I poured through the nine stories of this book in just under a day. This is officially my new favourite short story collection. Every story has deeply complex characters whose flaws you may not forgive but you do come to understand. The author took the archetypal character models and humanized them, which is sth that would've made 'Everyday is for the Thief' by Teju Cole infinitely better for me if it'd been done. My fav story in the collection is 'Godspeed and Perpetua', partly because the story didn't turn out how I thought it would. The author of the collection has a novel out, and I'll be on the lookout for it. I'd love to see what he does with the novel form as opposed to the short story form.
September 12, 2018
Neatly woven and unpretentious day-to-day life stories that explores inherent complexities of relationships.
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I am not the biggest fan of the genre, and I hoped this will be the collection to finally win me over. I closed the last page slightly won over. Barrett's brilliance in storytelling and character development is on full display. The one thing I felt was the strongest element in the collection was the evocative descriptions of each story. At the same time, that element didn't work in one or two stories, making them a drag to read. Highly recommendable.
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A rounded of 3,5/5
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I am not the biggest fan of the genre, and I hoped this will be the collection to finally win me over. I closed the last page slightly won over. Barrett's brilliance in storytelling and character development is on full display. The one thing I felt was the strongest element in the collection was the evocative descriptions of each story. At the same time, that element didn't work in one or two stories, making them a drag to read. Highly recommendable.
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A rounded of 3,5/5
September 18, 2018
Bellissima raccolta di racconti di un giovane autore nigeriano che per me è ormai una certezza. Si parla di amore, ma anche di corruzione, di violenza, di povertà, di diseguaglianza e di tutte le cose di cui è intessuta la società nigeriana.
May 16, 2013
Review is forthcoming.
November 13, 2014
Barrett makes no attempt to mask societal ills. It's human nature in its most brutal form.
August 13, 2015
Stories about contemporary Nigeria; some quite long. Some are quite moving.
March 1, 2017
I would really like to give it 3.5. Some stories took a while for me to care to get through, others I enjoyed.
August 9, 2017
A collection of thought provoking stories set in Nigeria and Nairobi. These stories will stick with me for a life time
January 7, 2023
Because I said I loved her. I did, at that instant, coming in her. But love does not mean marriage, a baby, forever. Love means you make me happy until you don't.
- A Nairobi story of comings and goings (Love is power or something like that by A. Igoni Barret)
.
.
Despite ‘Love is power, or something like that’ were use as a title, the story did not grab me at all. Is it blind devotion of a wife towards her husband? Is it corruption among police officers in Nigeria? What is the focus here because i went back and forth trying to figure that out. I have to be honest that I was impatient to finish it and wanted to move on to another story. Like everyone, it is safe to assume the first story featured in the short stories can make or break the collection. If its great, it will hook you right away and the rest is history. If its bad, you may not give a second stories a chance. I am glad that i LOVE the first story titled “the worst thing that happened”. An unlikely friendship that finally formed with 2 old women after years of distrust and misguided assumption they have for each other. Life sometimes do take a strange turn is what i felt when i finished this story. However, i do need to point out that this is uncomfortable read. It reeks sexual explicit content in certain stories - there’s a borderline incest scene , Imbalance power dynamic that directly led to sexual exploitation (teacher and student, House owner and renter) and just simply animalistic love making between lovers (Maybe i am a prude 😂). I guess it is necessary to what the author trying to write in his stories but it takes me a while to process some of these. “My smelling mouth problem” is hilarious - i can straight up imagined it being a short film produced by Neflix. MC just want to be left alone by people so that they will stop advising him about his mouth problem really made me cackling. All the stories set in Nigeria except ‘A Nairobi story of comings and Goings’ which set in Kenya - i am not Nigerian or Kenyan but i dont know how to approach this story as it felt alarming reading about stereotypes of Nairobi which might not sit well for Kenyan. I leave it to future readers to conclude the story on their own. Suffice to say, all 9 stories do have a merit on their own - evocative description, complex characters, a flipped storyline (because most of the time - its not going towards the direction that i assumed it would be) , almost half of the stories has a bittersweet ending and it managed to capture Nigerians dealing with the love problems / family conflict in their daily lives. Overall, a truly unapologetic Nigerian Stories. I would recommend this if you wanted to truly see Nigeria unfiltered, raw and in its truest form.
- A Nairobi story of comings and goings (Love is power or something like that by A. Igoni Barret)
.
.
Despite ‘Love is power, or something like that’ were use as a title, the story did not grab me at all. Is it blind devotion of a wife towards her husband? Is it corruption among police officers in Nigeria? What is the focus here because i went back and forth trying to figure that out. I have to be honest that I was impatient to finish it and wanted to move on to another story. Like everyone, it is safe to assume the first story featured in the short stories can make or break the collection. If its great, it will hook you right away and the rest is history. If its bad, you may not give a second stories a chance. I am glad that i LOVE the first story titled “the worst thing that happened”. An unlikely friendship that finally formed with 2 old women after years of distrust and misguided assumption they have for each other. Life sometimes do take a strange turn is what i felt when i finished this story. However, i do need to point out that this is uncomfortable read. It reeks sexual explicit content in certain stories - there’s a borderline incest scene , Imbalance power dynamic that directly led to sexual exploitation (teacher and student, House owner and renter) and just simply animalistic love making between lovers (Maybe i am a prude 😂). I guess it is necessary to what the author trying to write in his stories but it takes me a while to process some of these. “My smelling mouth problem” is hilarious - i can straight up imagined it being a short film produced by Neflix. MC just want to be left alone by people so that they will stop advising him about his mouth problem really made me cackling. All the stories set in Nigeria except ‘A Nairobi story of comings and Goings’ which set in Kenya - i am not Nigerian or Kenyan but i dont know how to approach this story as it felt alarming reading about stereotypes of Nairobi which might not sit well for Kenyan. I leave it to future readers to conclude the story on their own. Suffice to say, all 9 stories do have a merit on their own - evocative description, complex characters, a flipped storyline (because most of the time - its not going towards the direction that i assumed it would be) , almost half of the stories has a bittersweet ending and it managed to capture Nigerians dealing with the love problems / family conflict in their daily lives. Overall, a truly unapologetic Nigerian Stories. I would recommend this if you wanted to truly see Nigeria unfiltered, raw and in its truest form.
September 15, 2021
¿Qué es el amor? Diferentes historias cortas que exploran este tema: muy interesante: Me ha gustado mucho la forma de escribir y narrar. La visión de Nigeria que da también es muy interesante. Muy recomendable
September 14, 2016
I was introduced to Igoni Barret when I read BlackAss which I thought was a very good read (I will review later too), so I wasn’t hesitant to read his collection of short stories; Love is power or something like that, since I already knew his writing style and how he weaves his stories. I enjoyed reading this book but the difference between his short stories and the novel BlackAss was very clear; in BlackAss he had become a very confident writer who knew his voice and was not afraid to use it, where as in Love is power or something like that, I could sense some insecurity and hesitation.
Igoni has a way with words; he has a talent that very few writers have but one which all story tellers should pray for. He paints a very strong picture in the mind of his readers with his words such much so that you are transported right to the plot and feel like you are in the story. The book opens with The worst thing that happened which told a story of the empty nest syndrome, of loneliness associated with ageing and a story of abandonment. The story was so graphic that it tugged at my heart strings and at some point I picked up the phone to call my mom and nearly apologized for not visiting her as much as I would love to. Dream chaser takes you back to when we just discovered internet romance; while in The shape of a full circle we are introduced to a child who is forced into adulthood by the alcoholism of his mother.
Love is power or something like that which became the title story stood out for me with a very familiar story woven around a character all of us will most certainly recognize; the policeman who becomes another person once he dons his uniform. There is a hilarious story about Halitosis and there was Godspeed and Perpetua which was almost like a novella and which also left a very strong impression on me. The thing I have come to like most about Igoni is that he takes on strong themes that resonate in the society today but he is very subtle about it so much so that your attention is not drawn away from the story even though the highlighted issue is strong enough to be noticed. In this book he went through statutory rape, to dysfunctional marriages, to patriarchy, police brutality and even race. Each one was subtle but woven expertly into the story that it does not distract from the story itself.
When I read Jude Idadas A box of chocolates I was excited that the stories sort wove into one another and had some symmetry to each other. However my first impression of Love is power or something like that was that the stories were not related and that they were a bit disjointed. However I later discovered that I was wrong; Igoni did weave the stories around sort of similar themes but in typical Igoni style the symmetry was so subtle that you could almost miss it. Infact it was almost as if some of the stories continued where some others stopped; the shape of a full circle seemed to me like it was a continuation of Godspeed and Perpetua and that the alcoholic mother was Perpetua’s daughter conceived from rape which will explain why she detested the child. This is ofcourse my imagination running wild but I would like to think I am correct.
In all this was a good read; it starts off complex at first but when you get right into it you see the stories for what they are; real, vivid stories and a journey into the complexities of human behavior through the lens of a master story teller.
"But love does not mean marriage, a baby, forever. Love means you make me happy until you don’t"
The above phrase stood out for me and this book deserves a four star rating.
Igoni has a way with words; he has a talent that very few writers have but one which all story tellers should pray for. He paints a very strong picture in the mind of his readers with his words such much so that you are transported right to the plot and feel like you are in the story. The book opens with The worst thing that happened which told a story of the empty nest syndrome, of loneliness associated with ageing and a story of abandonment. The story was so graphic that it tugged at my heart strings and at some point I picked up the phone to call my mom and nearly apologized for not visiting her as much as I would love to. Dream chaser takes you back to when we just discovered internet romance; while in The shape of a full circle we are introduced to a child who is forced into adulthood by the alcoholism of his mother.
Love is power or something like that which became the title story stood out for me with a very familiar story woven around a character all of us will most certainly recognize; the policeman who becomes another person once he dons his uniform. There is a hilarious story about Halitosis and there was Godspeed and Perpetua which was almost like a novella and which also left a very strong impression on me. The thing I have come to like most about Igoni is that he takes on strong themes that resonate in the society today but he is very subtle about it so much so that your attention is not drawn away from the story even though the highlighted issue is strong enough to be noticed. In this book he went through statutory rape, to dysfunctional marriages, to patriarchy, police brutality and even race. Each one was subtle but woven expertly into the story that it does not distract from the story itself.
When I read Jude Idadas A box of chocolates I was excited that the stories sort wove into one another and had some symmetry to each other. However my first impression of Love is power or something like that was that the stories were not related and that they were a bit disjointed. However I later discovered that I was wrong; Igoni did weave the stories around sort of similar themes but in typical Igoni style the symmetry was so subtle that you could almost miss it. Infact it was almost as if some of the stories continued where some others stopped; the shape of a full circle seemed to me like it was a continuation of Godspeed and Perpetua and that the alcoholic mother was Perpetua’s daughter conceived from rape which will explain why she detested the child. This is ofcourse my imagination running wild but I would like to think I am correct.
In all this was a good read; it starts off complex at first but when you get right into it you see the stories for what they are; real, vivid stories and a journey into the complexities of human behavior through the lens of a master story teller.
"But love does not mean marriage, a baby, forever. Love means you make me happy until you don’t"
The above phrase stood out for me and this book deserves a four star rating.
March 18, 2020
All of the stories build a vibrant and diverse picture of Lagos, a city I love to follow through literature. Cracked up at the story about the guy with halitosis.
April 11, 2023
Racconti che mi sono suonati "esotici" per l'ambientazione per me inconsueta - Nigeria. Sempre affascinante conoscere posti nuovi attraverso gli occhi di uno scrittore: alla curiosità per la trama e i personaggi si intreccia il piacere di imparare qualcosa su un paese sconosciuto.
June 6, 2023
“Love means coming back even when you can’t”
This was a beautiful collection of stories that offered a captivating exploration of the joys, sorrows, and unexpected consequences that arise when love intertwines with our everyday lives.
What I loved about this was Barrett's ability to vividly capture the essence of Nigeria, its people, their love, and their struggles.
Each story in this collection is a gem in its own right, showcasing Barrett's versatility and range as a storyteller. From tales of forbidden love to explorations of family bonds and societal expectations, he seamlessly moves between different perspectives and narratives, creating an atmosphere of emotions and experiences that will stay with you for a very long time. "The Worst Thing That Happened" explores the disillusionment of a young woman, "Godspeed and Perpetua" delves into the vulnerability of a troubled man, and "My Smelling Mouth Problem" is one that stuck with me. The style of writing matched the story, and it was hilarious. Barrett skillfully tackles issues of self-esteem and acceptance in a refreshingly funny way. Definitely my favorite in the collection.
While the majority of the stories in this collection are compelling and thought-provoking, there are a few that didn't really do it for me. "The Little Girl With Budding Breast and a Bubblegum Laugh" left me wanting more closure and depth; I have so many questions.
This collection is one I will recommend for a long time. It's well-paced, and the transition to a new story is impeccable. It's so beautifully crafted, and the tales illuminate the complexities that come with having a human heart and emotions.
This was a beautiful collection of stories that offered a captivating exploration of the joys, sorrows, and unexpected consequences that arise when love intertwines with our everyday lives.
What I loved about this was Barrett's ability to vividly capture the essence of Nigeria, its people, their love, and their struggles.
Each story in this collection is a gem in its own right, showcasing Barrett's versatility and range as a storyteller. From tales of forbidden love to explorations of family bonds and societal expectations, he seamlessly moves between different perspectives and narratives, creating an atmosphere of emotions and experiences that will stay with you for a very long time. "The Worst Thing That Happened" explores the disillusionment of a young woman, "Godspeed and Perpetua" delves into the vulnerability of a troubled man, and "My Smelling Mouth Problem" is one that stuck with me. The style of writing matched the story, and it was hilarious. Barrett skillfully tackles issues of self-esteem and acceptance in a refreshingly funny way. Definitely my favorite in the collection.
While the majority of the stories in this collection are compelling and thought-provoking, there are a few that didn't really do it for me. "The Little Girl With Budding Breast and a Bubblegum Laugh" left me wanting more closure and depth; I have so many questions.
This collection is one I will recommend for a long time. It's well-paced, and the transition to a new story is impeccable. It's so beautifully crafted, and the tales illuminate the complexities that come with having a human heart and emotions.
January 12, 2018
At the end I had mixed feelings about the book. Like many I was drawn in by the stunning title and the cover with its non-conventional typesetting promised an amazing journey into these 9 short stories. [The author is Nigerian too, Nigerians know how to tell a good dramatic story]. But the book disn't live up to my expectations. This conclusion more so influenced by the last two stories which dragged on and on and didn't pack the punch.
Eventhough the last stories disappointed, the stories that were great were great. From the boy with halitosis, to the first born who sacrificed himself for his mother; the officer's wife who had power over her husband but didn't, to the Mother who lost all but when she thought everything bad had happened to her she found something good. There are stories in there that make you love the book . Then the not so good positioning of the stories dumpened my love for the book. As A. Igoni Barret (the author) says in his last story 'Love is making me happy until you stop'. The book made me happy, then it stopped hence the rating.
Otherwise a good read nonetheless.
Eventhough the last stories disappointed, the stories that were great were great. From the boy with halitosis, to the first born who sacrificed himself for his mother; the officer's wife who had power over her husband but didn't, to the Mother who lost all but when she thought everything bad had happened to her she found something good. There are stories in there that make you love the book . Then the not so good positioning of the stories dumpened my love for the book. As A. Igoni Barret (the author) says in his last story 'Love is making me happy until you stop'. The book made me happy, then it stopped hence the rating.
Otherwise a good read nonetheless.
August 8, 2023
Love is power or something like that by A. Igoni Barrett
A book composed of nine short stories, most of them set in Lagos, Nigeria, in the early 2000s. They take us through poverty and the human behaviors it presents.
1. The worst thing that happened. A story about an old widow with failing eyes. Her children are too busy hustling to have time to care for their aging mother. She reminisces on her youth, when she was still young and her body worked fine, and on her dead husband, whom she misses. She always keeps a cat as company and there have been many. In the end, she befriends her neighbor, an equally aged a woman with failing legs who has lived opposite her for several years and never said a word to. She is also lonely and in need of the companionship.
2. Dream chaser. A story about a young teenage boy in a low-class home. His parents work long hours to makes ends meet and no one pays much attention to him. He skips school and one day finds himself at a cyber cafe, where he is introduced to the world of cyber crime(419 or yahoo yahoo). He has learned the art of posing as someone else and swindling his victims of money. He wants to be ‘successful’.
3. The shape of a full circle. This is where the book started to get interesting. This story made me angry. It’s a story about a young teenage boy growing up in poverty. His father is not in the picture and his mother, a raging alcoholic without a job, spends her days drinking and in bed. He shares a battered apartment with her and his two younger siblings. He comes home one day, after loosing the money for food and alcohol, to find their landlord demanding for their overdue rent. The landlord asks for sex from his mother to buy them sometime. His mother, after the ordeal, beats him mercilessly till he is blooddied when she finds out he came home without her ‘fix’. He and his siblings go to their grandmother for the night but he comes back to his mother with some food and her ‘fix’. I wished he had put her to sleep forever that night because I know he and his siblings would go on to experience more years of trauma and poverty because of his mother. At least that way, they would live with their grandmother, an actual adult capable of caring for them. He has moon shaped eyes
4. Love is power or something like that. A story about a typical police man in Nigeria- Underpaid and impunitive. He has a beautiful wife, whom he had once broken her arm in a drunken rage and two sons. The story tells of a typical duty night. He is made to visit Brothel where one of his coworkers uses his power and position to intimidate and have non-consenting sex with a worker there. That night, while on duty, they are bribed by a rich and man when they ask to search his car.
5. My smelling mouth problem. Now this was a very funny story. It shows the typical nature of Nigerians to give unsolicited advice without understanding a situation. A young man had a smelling mouth and he finally decided to go to a dentist after his ordeal on a hot afternoon in Lagos traffic. He had entered a BTR bus that was modernized because he knew his situation and didn’t want to talk to anyone. Until things took a wrong turn. The ac, which they had payed extra money to enjoy, spoilt along the way and the angry passengers demanded to be taken back to the park and put in another bus. When they had been taken to a new bus, someone had taken his seat and in his furry, he opened his mouth to talk. Everyone covered their noses and took to advising him throughout the trip.
6. Trophy. This was a confusing story. I thought this was going to be a homosexual story. At the beginning, I thought Iggy was a woman, he was so feminine. Cus why was he shaving his ass in page 105. Anyway, It’s a story about a young man- Iggy, who travels to give a leadership seminar to a group of men at a club in a new town. There, he befriends a secondary school teacher, a pedophile, having an affair with one of his sixteen year old students. The story shows the student ‘wanting it’ and being a bad girl. This is the narrative some pedophiles try to defend. But these are children! And let’s say this holds, you are the adult and you should remove yourself from such situations.
7. The little girl with the budding breasts. This was a sad story. And it’s sadder because this is happening in so many homes out there. Parents and their children living with a rift, creating an avenue for ills like sexual abuse and grooming to thrive. Her mother had lost her husband and I know the changes and emotional turmoil that can cause. She had her own lot to deal with. She saw her daughter as a rebellious teenager that wouldn’t listen and needed some discipline. But underneath all that was a grieving child who felt misunderstood by the people around her. And the one person that ‘understood’ her was her elder cousin, making it easy for him to groom and abuse her.
8. Godspeed and Perpetua. This was an annoying story turned beautiful and then sad. I saw a man born into poverty that had to work hard to create a good life for himself and his family. His self worth was attached to his wealth, so when that was taken away from him, he crumbled. I was glad to see him be a man in the end and protect his family. Too bad it had to cost him his life. And perpetual was just a typical woman that fades into the role on a wife and home maker when they marry. They don’t marry for love. They no longer have interests and desires. Well, I’m glad she found some happiness with her husband for a while.
9. A Nairobi story of comings and goings. A story that lightly brushes apartheid in Nairobi. It’s about a new couple with slightly different gender roles. An older financially stable woman dating a younger man. He’s Nigerian. She pays for their dates and they spend most of their time at her nice apartment gbenshing and smoking. She’s easygoing and blunt. She just wants to have fun. She defends her man one day when he gets racially discriminated against in a store. She’s white.
A book composed of nine short stories, most of them set in Lagos, Nigeria, in the early 2000s. They take us through poverty and the human behaviors it presents.
1. The worst thing that happened. A story about an old widow with failing eyes. Her children are too busy hustling to have time to care for their aging mother. She reminisces on her youth, when she was still young and her body worked fine, and on her dead husband, whom she misses. She always keeps a cat as company and there have been many. In the end, she befriends her neighbor, an equally aged a woman with failing legs who has lived opposite her for several years and never said a word to. She is also lonely and in need of the companionship.
2. Dream chaser. A story about a young teenage boy in a low-class home. His parents work long hours to makes ends meet and no one pays much attention to him. He skips school and one day finds himself at a cyber cafe, where he is introduced to the world of cyber crime(419 or yahoo yahoo). He has learned the art of posing as someone else and swindling his victims of money. He wants to be ‘successful’.
3. The shape of a full circle. This is where the book started to get interesting. This story made me angry. It’s a story about a young teenage boy growing up in poverty. His father is not in the picture and his mother, a raging alcoholic without a job, spends her days drinking and in bed. He shares a battered apartment with her and his two younger siblings. He comes home one day, after loosing the money for food and alcohol, to find their landlord demanding for their overdue rent. The landlord asks for sex from his mother to buy them sometime. His mother, after the ordeal, beats him mercilessly till he is blooddied when she finds out he came home without her ‘fix’. He and his siblings go to their grandmother for the night but he comes back to his mother with some food and her ‘fix’. I wished he had put her to sleep forever that night because I know he and his siblings would go on to experience more years of trauma and poverty because of his mother. At least that way, they would live with their grandmother, an actual adult capable of caring for them. He has moon shaped eyes
4. Love is power or something like that. A story about a typical police man in Nigeria- Underpaid and impunitive. He has a beautiful wife, whom he had once broken her arm in a drunken rage and two sons. The story tells of a typical duty night. He is made to visit Brothel where one of his coworkers uses his power and position to intimidate and have non-consenting sex with a worker there. That night, while on duty, they are bribed by a rich and man when they ask to search his car.
5. My smelling mouth problem. Now this was a very funny story. It shows the typical nature of Nigerians to give unsolicited advice without understanding a situation. A young man had a smelling mouth and he finally decided to go to a dentist after his ordeal on a hot afternoon in Lagos traffic. He had entered a BTR bus that was modernized because he knew his situation and didn’t want to talk to anyone. Until things took a wrong turn. The ac, which they had payed extra money to enjoy, spoilt along the way and the angry passengers demanded to be taken back to the park and put in another bus. When they had been taken to a new bus, someone had taken his seat and in his furry, he opened his mouth to talk. Everyone covered their noses and took to advising him throughout the trip.
6. Trophy. This was a confusing story. I thought this was going to be a homosexual story. At the beginning, I thought Iggy was a woman, he was so feminine. Cus why was he shaving his ass in page 105. Anyway, It’s a story about a young man- Iggy, who travels to give a leadership seminar to a group of men at a club in a new town. There, he befriends a secondary school teacher, a pedophile, having an affair with one of his sixteen year old students. The story shows the student ‘wanting it’ and being a bad girl. This is the narrative some pedophiles try to defend. But these are children! And let’s say this holds, you are the adult and you should remove yourself from such situations.
7. The little girl with the budding breasts. This was a sad story. And it’s sadder because this is happening in so many homes out there. Parents and their children living with a rift, creating an avenue for ills like sexual abuse and grooming to thrive. Her mother had lost her husband and I know the changes and emotional turmoil that can cause. She had her own lot to deal with. She saw her daughter as a rebellious teenager that wouldn’t listen and needed some discipline. But underneath all that was a grieving child who felt misunderstood by the people around her. And the one person that ‘understood’ her was her elder cousin, making it easy for him to groom and abuse her.
8. Godspeed and Perpetua. This was an annoying story turned beautiful and then sad. I saw a man born into poverty that had to work hard to create a good life for himself and his family. His self worth was attached to his wealth, so when that was taken away from him, he crumbled. I was glad to see him be a man in the end and protect his family. Too bad it had to cost him his life. And perpetual was just a typical woman that fades into the role on a wife and home maker when they marry. They don’t marry for love. They no longer have interests and desires. Well, I’m glad she found some happiness with her husband for a while.
9. A Nairobi story of comings and goings. A story that lightly brushes apartheid in Nairobi. It’s about a new couple with slightly different gender roles. An older financially stable woman dating a younger man. He’s Nigerian. She pays for their dates and they spend most of their time at her nice apartment gbenshing and smoking. She’s easygoing and blunt. She just wants to have fun. She defends her man one day when he gets racially discriminated against in a store. She’s white.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 10, 2014
I came home one night to find a copy of Igoni Barrett’s ‘Love is power or something like that’ (great name by the way) on the dining table. My father had been to visit his publisher and picked up a copy. I’ve been on the market for great books to sink my teeth into recently and I hoped this would be one of them. As I worked my way through, I started to realize he was mirroring Adichie’s style of overly detailed descriptions of story props. However, where she seemed to go into detail about props that had been central to the action in the scene, his details were simply details for details sake. Tiring. Tiring details aside, the stories didn't move me.
This has been relegated from nightstand to toilet rack.
This has been relegated from nightstand to toilet rack.
July 16, 2014
I originally found it very difficult to get through this book - the stories of alcoholism, child abuse, and pedophilia were just too depressing. So I stopped half-way and gave the book 2 stars.
Months later, I realized I had forgotten to return the book to the library, so I took it up again and forced myself to finish. The last story made the pain worthwhile. It was superb. THEN I reread the first story and realized there were many subtle connections between them all. Absolutely brilliant.
Months later, I realized I had forgotten to return the book to the library, so I took it up again and forced myself to finish. The last story made the pain worthwhile. It was superb. THEN I reread the first story and realized there were many subtle connections between them all. Absolutely brilliant.
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