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Published in USA
Mar 2019
224 pages
Genre: Short Stories/Essays
Publication Information
A dazzling short story collection from the person Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie calls "one of the greatest writers of our time."
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, although renowned for his novels, memoirs, and plays, honed his craft as a short story writer. From "The Fig Tree," written in 1960, his first year as an undergraduate at Makerere University College in Uganda, to the playful "The Ghost of Michael Jackson," written as a professor at the University of California, Irvine, these collected stories reveal a master of the short form.
Covering the period of British colonial rule and resistance in Kenya to the bittersweet experience of independence - and including two stories that have never before been published in the United States - Ngũgĩ's collection features women fighting for their space in a patriarchal society, big men in their Bentleys who have inherited power from the British, and rebels who still embody the fighting spirit of the downtrodden. One of Ngũgĩ's most beloved stories, "Minutes of Glory," tells of Beatrice, a sad but ambitious waitress who fantasizes about being feted and lauded over by the middle-class clientele in the city's beer halls. Her dream leads her on a witty and heartbreaking adventure.
Published for the first time in America, Minutes of Glory and Other Stories is a major literary event that celebrates the storytelling might of one of Africa's best-loved writers.
"Starred Review. Thiong'o weaves together disparate stories of people attempting to deal with change in their lives, either chosen or forced upon them, showing his understanding of human nature, its frequent resistance to change, and its ability to surprise. This is a masterful collection." - Publisher Weekly
"Starred Review. Subversive and insightful, this masterful, long-overdue, yet timely collection introduces Ngugi's fiction to American readers." - Booklist
"A valuable literary view of African lives in a pivotal, turbulent era." - Kirkus
"[Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o] has collected his best ... these stories affirm the wide range of a global sensation." - The Millions
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Photo © Courtesy of the author
Ngugi wa Thiong'o, currently Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Irvine, was born in Kenya, in 1938 into a large peasant family. He was educated at Kamandura, Manguu and Kinyogori primary schools; Alliance High School, all in Kenya; Makerere University College (then a campus of London University), Kampala, Uganda; and the University of Leeds, Britain. He is recipient of seven Honorary Doctorates viz D Litt (Albright); PhD (Roskilde); D Litt (Leeds); D Litt &Ph D (Walter Sisulu University); PhD (Carlstate); D Litt (Dillard) and D Litt (Auckland University). He is also Honorary Member of American Academy of Letters. A many-sided intellectual, he is a novelist, essayist, playwright, journalist, editor, academic and social activist.
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Link to Ngugi wa Thiong'o's Website
Name Pronunciation
Ngugi wa Thiong'o: NYOO-gee (hard g) wah TEE-ongo--according to African Literature professor who knows the author and speaks Kikuyu/Gikuyu (from The Millions)
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