The Python Trail: An Immigrant's Path from Cameroon to America

by Richard Afuma, Thatcher Freund (Primary Contributor)

Growing up in remote Cameroon, Richard Afuma could not expect to live much past the age of 40, and his chances of any sort of education were slim. But at the age of eight, Afuma found his way to a school run by Baptist missionaries, where he learned to write on banana leaves. When he was ten, he saw his first white person who, from the evidence of a flip chart at school, he took to be Jesus Christ. He was told that the Land Rovers and Land Cruisers he saw driving down the rutted roads of Kom were made by these same people—Jesuses with supernatural powers—who were uniformly called Americans.

In The Python Trail, Afuma portrays the kind of journey that many immigrants have made, but few have described. When he arrived in Maine as a college freshman, he’d never heard of a washing machine, a microwave oven, or a coffee maker; the bed sheets were so clean and white, he was afraid he’d dirty them; and he believed computer printers were run by ghosts.

As much as anything, Afuma was shocked to learn that poverty and homelessness existed in a place whose streets he’d thought were paved with gold. It had never occurred to him that he himself might face hardships here, so that, despite having earned a master’s degree in public administration, he would fail time and time again to find meaningful employment. Scam artists preyed on him. Racism, though subtle, followed him wherever he went.

234 pages, Paperback

First published June 7, 2015

Reviews

[Lisa Houlihan]

I would judge this book as weak except it's by a third-world immigrant so I cut him ample slack.

I judge the person though I was getting a bad vibe from him not remembering names and glossing or omitting information that would give the story verisimilitude or himself credibility when, toward the end, he -- who admits many of his own faults -- says that he doesn't know why but he has never had long or meaningful relationships with women. That just confirmed my impression that he doesn't people very well. I admit that his strong religiosity also put me off.

Also, the timing's off. He adopted the name Richard because he knew the American president's name was Richard Nixon. This seems to happen well after he watches episodes of "The Cosby Show" on VHS. Later, John Travolta is popular in "Saturday Night Fever." It's a memoir, not a biography, so fine, but his co-author might have helped him to untangle his chronology. A non-American is not required to know the U.S. presidents, but it reads like a problem of time, not of information. His co-author, "With" Thatcher Freund (I decided that "With" is a nickname) could have helped him more with chronology and the fact that there aren't goddamn tigers in Africa.

The co-author also gives his own book five stars. Subtle.

[Nancy Noble · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recently, at the Portland Public Library’s brown bag lecture series, Richard Afuma read from and talked about his new book, “The Python Trail : an immigrant’s path from Cameroon to America.” I was so inspired by his talk that when I saw the book a few days later displayed at the Portland Public Library, I plucked it off the shelf and checked it out. I thoroughly enjoyed Richard Afuma’s writing and story of his journey from Cameroon to Portland, Maine, where he has lived for several decades. I especially enjoyed reading about his first impressions of America, and his time as a student at Westbrook College, which is how he happened to come to Portland. His observations on the American dream, which he has not yet attained in his eyes, are full of insight.

Especially with the current hot topic of immigration, I would highly recommend this book. In the meantime, here is more on Richard Afuma:
http://www.richardafuma.com/