Description
Book SynopsisAfrican Son is a record of the author's many trips to Africaas a Peace Corps volunteer, Fulbright scholar, teacher, and travelerover the course of thirty years. These personal essays range from sympathetic descriptions of village life in Senegal and Cameroon to detailed accounts of the rich physical and natural worlds in Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Madagascar to a mock-curriculum vitae for a Cameroonian man whose skill-set is surprisingly extensive. A work of creative non-fiction, African Son describes individual and, later, family experiences in a number of African locations, from villages to major urban centers and from desert to thick, tropical forest.
Trade ReviewAfrican Son is one of the best travelogues written about African. Its fifteen insightful, well-written, and well-organized essays tackle important social, cultural, and philosophical issues such as social inequities, cultural differences, man and nature, death, and spirituality. The book skillfully blends honesty and realism: the author’s feelings and attitudes towards the people and the land, as well as his scathing satire of human flaws. These exciting essays are ‘objective writing’ that depicts Africa—its merits and demerits—as well as the Westerners’ encounter with the continent. African Son is a great contribution to travel literature, African literature, and nature writing. -- Christine Djockoua Manyaka Toko, professor of American literature, University of Yaoundé I
These vignettes of daily life in various African countries and the experiences of ex-patriots provide insights about human agency, which most textbooks fail to convey. This book would make a great supplementary text that would provoke thoughtful discussion so often missing in university classes. -- Richard Bradshaw
