Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller

Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A worthy heir to Isak Dinesen and Beryl Markham, Alexandra Fuller shares visceral memories of her childhood in Africa, and of her headstrong, unforgettable mother.

"This is not a book you read just once, but a tale of terrible beauty to get lost in over and over."--Newsweek

"By turns mischievous and openhearted, earthy and soaring . . . hair-raising, horrific, and thrilling."--The New Yorker

Though it is a diary of an unruly life in an often inhospitable place, Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight is suffused with Fuller's endearing ability to find laughter, even when there is little to celebrate. Fuller's debut is unsentimental and unflinching but always captivating. In wry and sometimes hilarious prose, she stares down disaster and looks back with rage and love at the life of an extraordinary family in an extraordinary time.

From 1972 to 1990, Alexandra Fuller--known to friends and family as Bobo--grew up on several farms in southern and central Africa. Her father joined up on the side of the white government in the Rhodesian civil war, and was often away fighting against the powerful black guerilla factions. Her mother, in turn, flung herself at their African life and its rugged farm work with the same passion and maniacal energy she brought to everything else. Though she loved her children, she was no hand-holder and had little tolerance for neediness. She nurtured her daughters in other ways: She taught them, by example, to be resilient and self-sufficient, to have strong wills and strong opinions, and to embrace life wholeheartedly, despite and because of difficult circumstances. And she instilled in Bobo, particularly, a love of reading and of storytelling that proved to be her salvation.

Alexandra Fuller writes poignantly about a girl becoming a woman and a writer against a backdrop of unrest, not just in her country but in her home. But Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight is more than a survivor's story. It is the story of one woman's unbreakable bond with a continent and the people who inhabit it, a portrait lovingly realized and deeply felt.

Praise for Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight

"Riveting . . . [full of] humor and compassion."--O: The Oprah Magazine
 
"The incredible story of an incredible childhood."--The Providence Journal

Alexandra Fuller was born in 1969 in the United Kingdom. She and her family moved to a farm in southern Africa in 1972. She spent her early twenties in Africa. She relocated to Wyoming in 1994. Travel Light, Move Quickly, Cocktail Hour Beneath the Tree of Forgetfulness, and Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight are among Fuller's memoirs.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780375758997
ISBN 10	0375758992
Title	Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight
Author	Alexandra Fuller
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Random House USA Inc
Year published	2003-03-11
Number of pages	336
Prizes	Winner of Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize 2002
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.