Wizard of the Crow

Description

In exile for more than twenty years, Ngugi wa Thiong'o has become one of the most widely read African writers of our time, the power and scope of his work garnering him international attention and praise. His aim in WIZARD OF THE CROW is, in his own words, nothing less than 'to sum up Africa of the twentieth century in the context of 2,000 years of world history.'Commencing in 'our times' and set in the 'Free Republic of Aburiria', the novel dramatises with corrosive humour and keenness of observation a battle for control of the souls of the Aburirian people. Fashioning the stories of the powerful and the ordinary into a dazzling mosaic, Ngugi reveals humanity in all its ceaselessly surprising complexity.Informed by richly enigmatic traditional African storytelling, WIZARD OF THE CROW is a masterpiece, the crowning achievement in Ngugi wa Thiong'o's career thus far.

Ngugi wa Thiong'o is Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the university of California, Irvin, and is director of the university's International Centre for Writing and Translation. His books include Petals of Blood, for which he was imprisoned by the Kenyan government in 1977. He lives in Irvine, California.

"Unreservedly a masterpiece" * Scotland on Sunday * "A huge, comic novel... A shimmering, shifting discourse... mythological but also cheerfully disenchanted; political and playful; cartoonish but also epical... the African novel may well have delivered its greatest masterpiece" -- Brian Morton * Sunday Herald * "Epic....daring satire" * Sunday Times * "Fantastic" -- John Updike "Truly exciting... the author is a master of farce" * Daily Telegraph *