Say You're One of Them

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Say You're One of Them
Say You're One of Them.jpg
First US edition
AuthorUwem Akpan
CountryNigeria
LanguageEnglish
GenreShort Stories
PublisherAbacus (UK)
Little, Brown (US)
Publication date
2008
Media typePrint (paperback)
Pages294
ISBN9780349120638

Say You're One of Them is a collection of short stories by Nigerian writer Uwem Akpan, first published in 2008. Containing five stories, each set in a different African country, this collection won the 2009 Commonwealth Writers Prize (Africa region) and the 2009 Beyond Margins Award.

Stories[]

  • "An Ex-Mas Feast": told from the viewpoint of a young boy living in a Nairobi slum. The boy is given glue to sniff by his mother to quell his hunger, while his 12-year-old sister works as a prostitute and contemplates deserting her desperate failing family.[1]
  • "Fattening for Gabon": is a novella set in a small sea-side town on the outskirts of Lagos, near the borders between Nigeria and Benin. It is about a 10-year-old boy (who narrates) and his younger sister whose parents have died of AIDS. Initially glad to be taken in by their uncle, the boy slowly begins to realize that he and his sister are to be sold into slavery. With the payment for them, a new motorbike, already having been delivered, the deal cannot be cancelled.[2]
  • "My Parents’ Bedroom": set in Rwanda and again written in the first person, tells of a young girl with some neighbours hiding in the ceiling of her parent’s room while other adults of her hometown, neighbours and strangers alike, take part in a brutal killing spree.
  • "Luxurious Hearses": another novella, tells the story of a Muslim boy in Nigeria, disguised as a Christian, attempting to make his way to a safe area in the midst of mass religious riots between the two faiths.[3]
  • "What Language is That?": is about two young girls in Ethiopia, one Christian, one Muslim, who are forced to break their friendship as religious tensions explode in their community.[4]

Awards and honors[]

References[]

  1. ^ Maureen Corrigan, "Unflinching Evil in 'Say You're One of Them'", NPR Books, 19 June 2008.
  2. ^ Aminatta Forna, "Fault lines", The Guardian, 5 July 2008.
  3. ^ Charles Taylor, "Can I Get a Witness?", The New York Times, 27 July 2008.
  4. ^ "Say You're One of Them | ReadingGroupGuides.com". Retrieved Aug 7, 2019 – via www.readinggroupguides.com.
Retrieved from ""