The Joy of African Sex, jokes, Courtesies and Idiosyncrasies by Boniface Wewe, a Cameroonian and filmmaker living in New York. Sound interesting? The review describes the book as "A beguiling little collection of bon mots, chidings, lampoonery and entertainments related to sub-Saharan Africa." Well it sounded good to me so I went off to one of the chain book stores here in DC in the hope of buying and it and possibly some others. As usual on trips to book shops I was full of anticipation and expected to spend a couple of hours just browsing and downing cups of milk passing as coffee!
Nada - not a single book worth buying but lots not worth buying. Here is a short list of books I didn’t buy:
Broback Mountain by Annie Proulx – a love story about two gay white cowboys! are you kidding me? There is a movie (Ang Lee) too. which apparently was banned in Theatre in Utah cancelled the showing fo the film
Africans: The History of a Continent by John Iliffe – 284 pages not including notes and index – is that how long the history of Africa is?
The Black Mans Burden by Basil Davidson – remember Basil, British historian with TV series on Africa. Nice chap actually. But who / what is the Black Mans Burden I wonder?
Bolivian Diaries by Che Guevara – I wonder if Evo Morales has read it? Surprised to see this on the new books list. I thought the old icon was out of fashion these days, or are we witnessing the return of the "project of resistance"?
An Idiots Guide to the Middle East – if you are an idiot then you shouldn’t be reading this book!
We are all the same by Jim Wotten – No we are not – we are all different – lets celebrate that difference, love difference, respect difference and tolerate difference.
Overcoming Anxiety for Dummies – This I might just buy – it looks so boring that it might just help put me to sleep.
The Joy of African Sex, jokes, Courtesies and Idiosyncrasies by Boniface Wewe, a Cameroonian and filmmaker living in New York. Sound interesting? The review describes the book as "A beguiling little collection of bon mots, chidings, lampoonery and entertainments related to sub-Saharan Africa." Well it sounded good to me so I went off to one of the chain book stores here in DC in the hope of buying and it and possibly some others. As usual on trips to book shops I was full of anticipation and expected to spend a couple of hours just browsing and downing cups of milk passing as coffee!
Nada - not a single book worth buying but lots not worth buying. Here is a short list of books I didn't buy:
Broback Mountain by Annie Proulx - a love story about two gay white cowboys! are you kidding me? There is a movie (Ang Lee) too. which apparently was banned in Theatre in Utah cancelled the showing fo the film
Africans: The History of a Continent by John Iliffe - 284 pages not including notes and index - is that how long the history of Africa is?
The Black Mans Burden by Basil Davidson - remember Basil, British historian with TV series on Africa. Nice chap actually. But who / what is the Black Mans Burden I wonder?
Bolivian Diaries by Che Guevara - I wonder if Evo Morales has read it? Surprised to see this on the new books list. I thought the old icon was out of fashion these days, or are we witnessing the return of the "project of resistance"?
An Idiots Guide to the Middle East - if you are an idiot then you shouldn't be reading this book!
We are all the same by Jim Wotten - No we are not - we are all different - lets celebrate that difference, love difference, respect difference and tolerate difference.
Overcoming Anxiety for Dummies - This I might just buy - it looks so boring that it might just help put me to sleep.
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
I have not read the short story but I am going to see the movie which has received a lot of reviews. I think you should read it or try to see the movie. It has opened a lot of eyes as to what the closet is like for men who live in an world that was not ready for them and they way they felt about each other. I will try to read the short story before I go see it in a theatre.
Not cowboys per se, just ranch hands… And it hasn’t been banned anywhere – a couple of theatres in the US decided to cancel their showings of it. One of those theatres happened to be in UT…
P.S. I love the new look. It’s kinda snazzy.
the short story “Brokeback Mountain” is pretty beautifully written. I didn’t see the film and I don’t really want to, but I am glad I read the story. It makes me want to check out other work by Annie Proulx. I found the story posted somewhere online, so if you search around you might be able to find it.
Ok protected Static – show cancelled – ranch hands? cowboys? All the blurb I have read says cowboys?
Glad you all liked the book – maybe will see the movie on DVD!
Didn’t read the book buy imho, “Brokeback Mountain” is one of the best movies of 2005-2006. Superbly acted and beautifully filmed. My advice, go see a great love story.
(Forget about the gay hype)
I always feel suspicious when the mainstream media start hyping up on anything gay – think of voyurism. I did read the book yesterday and cant say there was anything there that grabbed me. It was really a short story that could have been developed and I guess that is where the movie comes in – will try to see it while I am here in the US.
Most people who appreciate beautiful prose would enjoy Annie Proulx’s fiction — assuming, of course, one gives her a chance.
These things are subjective – I did not feel the prose was anything special. On the other hand I think the books by Edwidge Dandicat, Ben Okri, Isabel Allende to name a few are full of beautiful prose.
True enough about the subjectivity. My response was a reaction to your guffaw at the mere prospect of reading “Brokeback Mountain”. Didn’t read the book nor see the film, but I have enjoyed a couple of Proulx’s other books. It ain’t like she’s Danielle Steele.
But, then, I’m just a poorly read high school dropout. Nothin’ special here. And, contrary to my last post, I have absolutely no freaking idea what literature “most people” would or wouldn’t like, and it doesn’t matter anyway.
I have heard many wonderful things about Allende’s work. If you have a favorite of hers, I’m all ears.
Ok Alvin I guess I was being patronising in my last comment. House of Spirits and City of Beasts are two that come to mind and Paula which is kind of a autobiography or rather an exploration of her family’s history written around the dying of her daughter who was at the time in a coma.
Black Man’s Burden was actually a good read. Old read but good read.
Iliffe book is terrible. He starts of saying the greatest contribution of African peoples was the people of the continent an the world. What about civilisation, science, medicine and technology.
Thanks for the recommendations, owukori.
Head-feeding will commence shortly.