Winner of the Governor General's Award
A "Library Journal "Best Book of 2001
Part autobiography and part social history, "Notes from the Hyena's Belly" offers an unforgettable portrait of Ethiopia, and of Africa, during the 1970s and '80s, an era of civil war, widespread famine, and mass execution. "We children lived like the donkey," Mezlekia remembers, "careful not to wander off the beaten trail and end up in the hyena's belly." His memoir sheds light not only on the violence and disorder that beset his native country, but on the rich spiritual and cultural life of Ethiopia itself. Throughout, he portrays the careful divisions in dress, language, and culture between the Muslims and Christians of the Ethiopian landscape. Mezlekia also explores the struggle between western European interests and communist influences that caused the collapse of Ethiopia's social and political structure--and that forced him, at age 18, to join a guerrilla army. Through droughts, floods, imprisonment, and killing sprees at the hands of military juntas, Mezlekia survived, eventually emigrating to Canada. In "Notes from the Hyena's Belly" he bears witness to a time and place that few Westerners have understood.

Reviews

"Hyenas are the most common, notorious predators in Ethiopia," notes Mezlekia, thus their power in local myth and as a metaphor for the forces that have torn Ethiopia apart in recent decades. This lyrical memoir of an Ethiopian childhood echoes both the myth and the violence of the hyena. In the first third of his literary debut, Mezlekia intersperses accounts of his mischievous, rebellious childhood with the magical tales told by his family to interpret various experiences: magic and spirits were part of everyday life for young Mezlekia. He also carefully delineates the customs of and relations between the Christian and Muslim communities in his hometown of Jijiga. (Mezlekia's mother, though a Christian, took her son to a Muslim medicine man to cleanse him following a series of boyish escapades.) But a third of the way through the text, the material world supplants the world of the spirit and innocence that governed Mezlekia's early childhoodÄsocial and political upheaval ruled Ethiopian life in the late 1970s and '80s. At times, Mezlekia, who now lives in Canada, does not clearly describe the various factions that wrestled for power when he was a teenager and college student. But he treats the chaos and famine that enveloped his country with seriousness and styleÄ"The revolution was eating Ethiopian children at an alarming rate"Äand even while recounting famine and war, he never loses the wit that no doubt helped him to survive some of the worst humanity has to offer. (Jan.) Forecast: This lovely and terrible memoir will undoubtedly be well reviewed and thus reach readers interested not only in the fate of Africa but also in a lyrical account of a foreign childhood. There is an author tour planned. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Born in 1958, the year he calls "the year of paradox," Mezlekia has written an intriguing book about growing up in Jigiga, Ethiopia. Full of adventure, political struggle, and intrigue, his memoir works as a coming-of-age story as well as a glimpse into a world of political corruption and change that Westerners rarely get to know so intimately. Mezlekia writes, "We children lived like the donkey, careful not to wander off the beaten trail and end up in the hyena's belly." He describes the careful divisions in dress, language, and culture between Muslims and Christians and brings them to life through vivid portraits of the people who populated his landscape. Mustafa and Ms. Yetaferu, two permanent houseguests, provide beautiful insight into these two religious and cultural stances in life. Mustafa's business adventures and Ms. Yetaferu's religious ceremonies stand in contrast to each other, creating a dynamic household. Mezlekia's tales of the spiritual and religious beliefs are some of the most fascinating parts of his life. He honors us with the telling of this rich story. Highly recommended for all libraries.DBarbara O'Hara, Free Lib. of Philadelphia Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

"[A] powerful memoir . . . By skillfully interweaving personal history, politics, and Amhara fables . . . [Mezlekia] has produced the most riveting book about Ethiopia since Ryszard Kapuscinski's literary allegory "The Emperor" and the most distinguished African literary memoir since Soyinka's "Ake" appeared 20 years ago . . . Mezlekia has summoned with imaginative directness and impressive tonal range, a world of uncertainty in which politics is never just background but permeates ordinary life."--Rob Nixon, "The New York Times Book Review "
"[Mezlekia] describes his experience as a member of a revolutionary student cell, his naive enlistment as a teen-age guerilla with the Somalis, and his survival of imprisonment, famine and near-death by firing squad with the vivid swiftness of a Stephen Crane story."--"The New Yorker"
"Nega Mezlekia's noteworthy memoir of growing up in Ethiopia is likely to tell readers far more than they previously knew about that embattled country . . . His book is as much a survivor's tale as it is a painstaking record of a country devouring itself."--"Washington Post"
""Notes From the Hyena's Belly "is not only a memoir, it is also a vital political and social commentary about the state of affairs in Ethiopia."--"African Sun Times"
"His memoir tells us much about Ethiopia and much more about the human capacity to survive, even to thrive, in the midst of calamity."--"Boston Sunday Herald"
"Spirited . . . A very welcome and much-needed contribution to the literature of the continent."--"Newsday"
"Topical, moving, and fascinating. Nega Mezlekia concentrates his mind on his nation's history as he tells his own tale in prose imbued with a sense of commitment to truth. It is the best memoir by an Ethiopian that I've ever read."--Nuruddin Farah, author of "Maps" and "Secrets"""
""Notes from the Hyena's Belly "is a lyrical memoir and a guide to the troubled recent history of Ethiopia. Growing up in E