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Never look an American in the eye : a memoir : flying turtles, colonial ghosts, and the making of a Nigerian American

Title: Never look an American in the eye : a memoir : flying turtles, colonial ghosts, and the making of a Nigerian American / Okey Ndibe.
Author: Ndibe, Okey, 1960-
Publication: New York, NY : Soho, [2016]

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Status	Format	Access	Call Number	Item Location
Request for On-site Use Request Scan Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Schomburg Center to submit a request in person.	Text	Use in library	Sc D 16-1654	Schomburg Center - Research & Reference

Details

Description

210 pages; 22 cm

Summary

"Okey Ndibe's funny, charming, and penetrating memoir tells of his move from Nigeria to America, where he came to edit the influential--but forever teetering on the verge of insolvency--African Commentary magazine. It recounts stories of Ndibe's relationships with Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, and other literary figures; examines the differences between Nigerian and American etiquette and politics; recalls an incident of racial profiling just 13 days after he arrived in the US, in which he was mistaken for a bank robber; considers American stereotypes about Africa (and vice-versa); and juxtaposes African folk tales with Wall Street trickery. All these stories and more come together in a generous, encompassing book about the making of a writer and a new American"--

Subject

Genre/Form

Autobiographies.
Anecdotes.

Contents

English Dreams, Communist Fantasies, and American Wrestling -- Never Look an American in the Eye -- My Commission and a Chilly American Reception -- Sleepless in New York -- Nigerian, Going Dutch -- Fitting the Description -- Are You Okay? -- A Norwegian "Okay" Interlude -- On a Croc's Back, America-Bound -- Will Edit for Food -- Lying to Be a Writer -- Writing, Reading, Food, Some Ass Kicking -- A Brand-New American -- An African Folktale, a Wall Street Lesson -- A Dying Father, Dreams of Burma and England -- Wole Soyinka Saves My Christmas -- Crashing a Party, Changing Hearts.

Call Number

Sc D 16-1654

ISBN

9781616957605 (hardcover)
1616957603 (hardcover)

LCCN

2016019151

OCLC

952942739

Author

Ndibe, Okey, 1960- author.

Title

Never look an American in the eye : a memoir : flying turtles, colonial ghosts, and the making of a Nigerian American / Okey Ndibe.

Publisher

New York, NY : Soho, [2016]

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Local Note

Schomburg copy with dust jacket.

Local Subject

Black author.

Research Call Number

Sc D 16-1654

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