A dazzling, feminist novel in verse that reimagines the origin
story of the Gikuyu people of Kenya, from the author Chimamanda
Ngozi Adichie calls 'one of the greatest writers of our time'
Ngugi wa Thiong'o is one of the leading writers and scholars at work in the world today. His books include the novels Petals of Blood, for which he was imprisoned by the Kenyan government in 1977, A Grain of Wheat and Wizard of the Crow; the memoirs, Dreams in a Time of War, In the House of the Interpreter and Birth of a Dream Weaver; and the essays, Decolonizing the Mind, Something Torn and New and Globalectics. Recipient of many honours, among them ten honorary doctorates, he is currently Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Irvine.
One of the greatest writers of our time -- Chimamanda Ngozi
Adichie
A vivid, exhilarating tale with a surprisingly modern philosophy
that emphasises the importance of tolerance, feminism and respect
for the environment -- Anthony Gardner * Mail on Sunday *
As pacy and addictive as it is measured. Thick with allegory and
adventure...this is a beautifully told epic about the fundamentals
of humanity * New Statesman *
A beautiful work that not only refuses distinctions between "high
art" and traditional storytelling, but supplies that all-too rare
human necessity: the sense that life has meaning -- Fiona Sampson *
Guardian *
The Perfect Nine uses a deceptively simple language that
lays bare deep truths. * Financial Times *
In this sinuous retelling by the great Kenyan writer, the founding
myth of the Gikuyu people emerges as an epic poem rivalling the
Iliad in body count and surpassing it in whimsy. * New Yorker *
Unfolding in wry and lyrical verse, The Perfect Nine tells a
Homeric odyssey of the creation of the entire Gikuyu people-a
creationist myth, an adventure tale, and a family story, wherein
the wives do not simply wait at home. * Literary Hub *
Seldom have the raw truths of Africa been exposed so vividly, yet
humorously. . . With tales that tease, then bite, [Ngugi] tackles
the absurdities, injustices and corruption of a continent -- Delia
Owens, author of WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING on MINUTES OF GLORY * New
York Times Book Review *
The Perfect Nine is one of the year's great discoveries. *
Economist *
It is the farthest you could possibly get from the grim, wet
reality of a lockdown Christmas in London and is exactly what I
want to escape with -- Alicia Lansom * Refinery29 *
[The Perfect Nine] departs from the sprawl of his past
novels into an engaging if slight lyrical epic. Combining Homeric
verse with oral storytelling tropes-choruses, chants, songs-he
retells the origin myth of the Gikuyu, Kenya's largest tribe. . . .
Thiong'o's fans will appreciate this. * Publishers Weekly *
A visionary writer * Financial Times *
Ngugi wa Thiong'o's first venture into epic poetry is a triumph of
the form, which resounds with the lyrical heartbeat of the Gikuyu
people in Kenya as Ngugi chronicles their mythic history. * World
Literature Today *
A tremendous writer... it's hard to doubt the power of the written
word when you hear the story of Ngugi wa Thiong'o * Guardian *
In his crowded career and eventful life, Ngugi has enacted, for all
to see, the paradigmatic trials and quandaries of a contemporary
African writer, caught in sometimes implacable political, social,
racial and linguistic currents * Daily Telegraph *
A beautiful work that not only refuses distinctions between "high
art" and traditional storytelling, but supplies that all-too rare
human necessity: the sense that life has meaning -- Fiona Sampson *
Guardian *
It is the farthest you could possibly get from the grim, wet
reality of a lockdown Christmas in London and is exactly what I
want to escape with -- Alicia Lansom * Refinery29 *
The Perfect Nine is one of the year's great discoveries *
Economist *
As pacy and addictive as it is measured. Thick with allegory and
adventure...this is a beautifully told epic about the fundamentals
of humanity * New Statesman *
A rather beautiful, if unusual, read -- Emily Beament * TalkTalk *
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