My First Coup d'Etat by John Dramani Mahama

My First Coup d'Etat by John Dramani Mahama

An important literary debut from the Vice President of Ghana, a fable-like memoir that offers a shimmering microcosm of post-colonial Africa. 'A much welcome work of immense relevance' Chinua Achebe My First Coup D'Etat chronicles the coming-of-age of John Dramani Mahama in Ghana during the dismal post-independence 'lost decades' of Africa. He was seven years old when rumours of a coup reached his boarding school in Accra. His father, a minister of state, was suddenly missing, then imprisoned for more than a year. My First Coup D'Etat offers a look at the country that has long been considered Africa's success story. This is a one-of-a-kind book: Mahama's is a rare literary voice from a political leader, and his stories work on many levels - as fables, as history, as cultural and political analysis, and, of course, as the memoir of a young man who, unbeknownst to him or anyone else, would grow up to be vice president of his nation. Though non-fiction, these are stories that rise above their specific settings and transport the reader - much like the fiction of Isaac Bashevis Singer and Nadine Gordimer - into a world all their own, one which straddles a time lost and explores the universal human emotions of love, fear, faith, despair, loss, longing, and hope despite all else.

It's a rich, gentle, powerful, kind African voice that is largely missing from America, and that is certainly invisible in American accounts of African politics* Andrew Solomon, author of THE NOONDAY DEMON *
I found the stories - or rather snapshots of a life - warm and engaging. I particularly liked the view of a complex world in microcosm. * Aminatta Forna, author of THE MEMORY OF LOVE *
[Mahama's stories] lure the reader into an unforgettable journey in which he interacts with history as a living tissue. The characters and the episodes are part of the everyday but one imbued with magic and suggestive power that go beyond the concrete and the palpable to hint at history in motion. * Ngugi wa Thiongo, author of WEEP NOT CHILD and WIZARD OF THE CROW *

His Excellency John Dramani Mahama is a writer, historian, communications expert, former member of Parliament and Minister of State, and sitting Vice President of the Republic of Ghana. He lives in Accra, Ghana.

SKU	Nicht verfügbar
ISBN 13	9781408832684
ISBN 10	1408832682
Titel	My First Coup d'Etat
Autor	John Dramani Mahama
Buchzustand	Nicht verfügbar
Bindungsart	Paperback
Verlag	Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Erscheinungsjahr	2012-07-19
Seitenanzahl	336
Hinweis auf dem Einband	Die Abbildung des Buches dient nur Illustrationszwecken, die tatsächliche Bindung, das Cover und die Auflage können sich davon unterscheiden.
Hinweis	Nicht verfügbar