Great African Reads discussion

Hey guys...i saw on twitter that the blog "Africa is a Country" took exception to this book review about two new memoirs of life in Ghana. I can see why they did...I'm wondering if anyone has any thoughts about the review, the books themselves, life in Ghana today and yesterday...how it is portrayed in media, including books...thoughts?

What's the concern? Is it about the books, or the review?

The comment I saw seemed to take issue with the review. I'm hoping they write up an article about their thoughts. It's not clear to me if they have read the books.

I will go get the comment and come back.

ETA: here is the text of the tweet:

Africa is a Country ‏@AfricasaCountry

How NOT to write a review of 2 recent memoirs on #Ghana. Too much wrong to itemize. Expected better from the @csmonitor http://www.csmonitor.com/Books/Book-R... …

Not very informative.

A review by Siddhartha Mitter of the book My First Coup d'Etat is published on the Africa is a Country site here under the title "Michael Jackson in Tamale: The memoir of Ghana's new president".

Compared to the review by Marjorie Kehe in the CS Monitor, Mitter's review is a revelation.

William wrote: "A review by Siddhartha Mitter of the book My First Coup d'Etat is published on the Africa is a Country site here under the title "Michael Jackson in Tamale: The memoir of Ghana's new president".

C..."

Thanks, William, i will check it out. i do hope someone at Africa is a Country will write an essay about the Marjorie Kehe review to explain the problems with it. But i agree with their comment; i too would expect better from CS Monitor.

i didn't read the whole thing yet, but i checked the dates of the CS Monitor review, the Africa is a Country review, the Mahama's book's publication date, and the date of Mills' death...and well, did Kehe even realize who Mahama is besides a "historian and politician"??

At the second annual book festival of the Ghana Association of Writers (GAW) on Friday, September 21, 2012, John Dramani Mahama, President of Ghana and member of GAW, spoke about the books he had enjoyed as a child and a teenager and read a chapter from his memoir, My First Coup d'Etat. He then signed every single copy of his book which had been bought that day. When it was my turn, I took the opportunity of presenting him with signed copies of each of my three published books, Ama, Brave Music of a Distant Drum and Akosua and Osman.

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As for Dr. Marjorie Kehe (PhD in Comparative Literature from New York University), the less said the better. She can't even spell "Ghanaian." From the on-line reviews of Max Alexander's book, it doesn't seem quite as bad as she makes out; but it won't be on my reading list.

Manu wrote: "At the second annual book festival of the Ghana Association of Writers (GAW) on Friday, September 21, 2012, John Dramani Mahama, President of Ghana and member of GAW, spoke about the books he had e..."

that's terrific, Manu! thank you for sharing that...i thought your pictures showed up when i looked at this post on my phone but now i'm not seeing them...did you post a picture or did i dream it? i'm not familiar with Dr. Kehe...interesting.

I might read Alexander's book, mostly because i'm a fan of the Cranium games and i am genuinely interested in seeing how he would try to do business in Ghana. but i'm not rushing to read it, unlike Mahama's book...which is now ready for me to pick up from the library! yay! so i'll be reading it shortly.

Marieke wrote: "Manu wrote: ". . .did you post a picture or did i dream it?..."

You didn't dream it, but it's gone. Has someone at Goodreads removed it? If so, I wonder why?

Try

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/51032954/Maha...

Thanks, Manu, nice picture!