Tag Archives: Africa

A Novel That Takes You to Africa

Niger River
Niger River, Photo By Ferdinand Reus

Destination: Niger

Book: Harmattan by Gavin Weston (NEW April 2012)

The title, Harmattan, refers to a dusty wind that blows in from the Sahara.  Gavin Weston defines the term in a frontispiece by saying “Probably from the Arabic haram, a forbidden or accursed thing.” The novel, a miraculous creation,  is dealing with a life that seems “accursed.”  I couldn’t get the taste of grit out of my mouth and nose when reading this book. Continue reading A Novel That Takes You to Africa

How to be a Travel Writer

[amazon_image id=”1555975917″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]One Day I Will Write About This Place: A Memoir[/amazon_image]

Destination: Africa

Book: One Day I Will Write About This Place (NEW August 2011) by Binyavanga Wainaina

(NOTE: After I wrote and titled this review, I carefully read Binyavanga Wainaina’s sardonic instructions on “How to Write About Africa” in the magazine Granta. You may want to check as you compile your Africa reading list.) Football!

Binyavanga Wainaina reinvents memoir writing in[amazon_link id=”1555975917″ target=”_blank” ] One Day I Will Write About This Place[/amazon_link].  I read two or three books a week and many of them are very, very fine writing, but this one knocked me back in my chair and made me reconsider the conventions of writing. Original. Poetic. Surprising. Experimental. He sees and hears and feels the world in ways you never thought of before.  Right from the first page, this book is a WOW experience. In this quote, he is describing a day playing soccer in Kenya when he was seven. Continue reading How to be a Travel Writer