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Never Look an American in the Eye: A Memoir of Flying Turtles, Colonial Ghosts, and the Making of a Nigerian American
Never Look an American in the Eye: A Memoir of Flying Turtles, Colonial Ghosts, and the Making of a Nigerian American | Okey Ndibe
19 posts | 7 read | 93 to read
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."
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violabrain
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Pickpick

The author has wonderful stories and a great sense of humor! A really wonderful read! Plus, he now lives in my hometown!

7 likes1 stack add
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bookishbitch
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I think it is enlightening to view our country, culture and customs through a different lens. #tbrpile

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The_Real_Nani
Pickpick

This was an ARC I found in a used bookstore, so I‘m giving it some grace. I liked the storytelling in this one, and was just generally interested to learn more about Nigerian society and culture.

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bookishbitch
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When my son was home I took him to my favorite local book store. I'm not supposed to be buying books. Ooops. 😉

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Jas16
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#bookandabeverage #riotgrams

Not very far into this one but liking it so far.The tea at my favorite Vietnamese restaurant was also good.

LauraBeth I loved this book 7y
IWriteInTheNight What an interesting name, definitely going on my tbr list😍. 7y
91 likes5 stack adds2 comments
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MrBook
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#TBRtemptation post! This sounds like a very interesting memoir. It's the funny and penetrating experiences of his move from Nigeria to America. He became editor of "African Commentary" and meant China Achebe, Wole Soyinka, & others. He talks about differences in Nigerian & American etiquette, politics, & stereotypes about each other; being racially profiled for crime; & juxtaposes folk tales with Walk Street. #blameLitsy #blameMrBook ?

LitsyGoesPostal 😊👍🏻 8y
83 likes5 stack adds1 comment
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Liberty
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I finally finished my labor of love! I made a list of wonderful releases in 2016 from over 100 indie presses because I love you and I like you:

http://bookriot.com/2016/12/19/a-great-big-guide-to-wonderful-books-in-2016-from...

BookBabe Thanks Liberty! We ❤you too! 😊👏🏻👏🏻 8y
Soubhiville Thanks!! 8y
LauraBeth ❤❤😀🎉 8y
See All 22 Comments
Nonaroo Thank you!! 💕💕💕 8y
KseniaWinnicki Definitely bookmarking that list and link! Thank you! I really want to read some books from indie presses in 2017! 8y
Cinfhen Wow, thank u 💕🙌🏻🌸 8y
Lindy What a fantastic list! Thanks. 8y
Laura317 Yes! Thank you for being awesome!! 8y
TheCanuckReader Great list...I love that one features "an ancient ham"...lol 8y
DeborahSmall Great,I've bookmarked this for later. Thank you so much 💕 8y
balletbookworm 😻😻😻 8y
szainabwilliams Nice! 👍🏾👍🏾 8y
Weaponxgirl Thank you! Can you tell us if any are micropresses in that stack for our #readharder challenges? ;) 8y
sprainedbrain I agree with @Weaponxgirl and would love it if some of these are from micropresses. 👍 8y
Liberty @Weaponxgirl @sprainedbrain Without investigating the print run for each title, to the best of my knowledge these are not micropresses. A micropress (as I understand it) usually prints chapbooks or very, very limited numbers of a book. 8y
Donna_sBookMinute Thanks for such a great list. My long list consists of nine titles. Three, for sure, will be added. 8y
Suet624 Thank you so much for this. These sound so interesting. 8y
britt_brooke You're awesome, thanks!! 8y
[DELETED] 3323341091 thanks! 😘 8y
wanderaven Amazing list. Just spent about three hours with it. 😯 thanks, liberty! 8y
jessdean This is SO amazing! Thank you!! 8y
WordWaller So many Consortium books!! 💖💖💖💖🙌🙌🙌🙌😍😍😍😍 yes!!! 8y
226 likes6 stack adds22 comments
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LauraBeth
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Because I'm STILL thinking about this book...

slhbooks I can see why... 8y
125 likes7 stack adds1 comment
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LauraBeth
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Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. I tend to gravitate to books written by rich white women (who write about rich people problems or extramarital affairs) or sardonic men who live in Brooklyn and who are worshipped by the NYTimes book reviewers. This book broke my usual reading mold and I'm so glad that I read it! Reading a memoir from a man who was raised in Nigeria and moved to America: Refreshing, interesting and a good investment of anyone's reading time! 😀

heatherspoetlife I can totally relate. Deciding to stay away from bestseller lists and focus on diversity and translation has made myr reading so much more interesting this year. The others still get in there but I was blown away by how much more interesting these stories are after all that time of reading about relatively similar characters. 8y
LeahBergen This is one of the reasons that I love book clubs. They "force" me to read something I normally wouldn't choose and I end up loving it. ? 8y
LauraBeth @StoredFeminism exactly! There is a whole world of literature out there - I've concluded I've only seen a very narrow glimpse of it. 8y
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LauraBeth @LeahBergen I need to do the Read Harder book challenge in 2017 😀 8y
Mariposa_Bookworm I love the napping kitty. The look so sweet and innocent when they are sleeping. 8y
TheCanuckReader Are the new #readharder prompts out yet for 2017? 8y
LauraBeth @Mariposa_Bookworm when she is sleeping is the only time she's not in trouble 😹 8y
LauraBeth @TheCanuckReader I don't think it's out yet - hopefully it'll be out within the next couple of weeks 😀 8y
Cortg @TheCanuckReader I haven't seen it yet, and I'm so curious! 8y
Donna_sBookMinute My fiction preferences revolve around historical fiction, mysteries, and suspense/thrillers. Outside of reference books, non-fiction preferences include how-to, ancient African-based history, religion, memoirs, and biographies. I do anticipate a degree of web influence, of course, which allows me to explore different genres. But if a best seller doesn't fit within my broad range of preferences, I probably won't read it. 8y
LauraBeth @Donna_sBookMinute I really tried to see my blind spots with my reading this year and became very aware that I am missing out on a ton of great literature! Another reason I love Litsy and its folks 😀 8y
Faibka My kitty's twin! 😻 sorry my eyes went automatically to the gray cutie 8y
LauraBeth @faibka 😻😻😻 8y
160 likes23 stack adds13 comments
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LauraBeth
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When you're reading and suddenly realize that you need to read the book that had a profound impact on the author. So you buy it.

Hobbinol Ha! Exactly! #bookishproblems 8y
LeahBergen 👍🏼👍🏼 8y
Buddys_Momma Of course you have to buy it! Duh 🙄 LOL! 8y
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Reviewsbylola I do that too! Things Fall Apart is fantastic. 8y
EvieBee Winning! 8y
Cortg I just read Things Fall Apart. Part One is slow but stick with it. Part Two and Three pick up. 8y
LauraBeth @Reviewsbylola, @cortg I'm looking forward to reading it - especially after reading this memoir, because the author wrote about his friendship with Achebe 8y
LauraBeth @EvieBee84, @LeahBergen, @Hobbinol, @Buddys_Momma Amazon's one click buying will be my end 😀 8y
GirlNamedJesse I LOVE Things Fall Apart! One of the only high school required reads I enjoyed and the only one I reread. 8y
LauraBeth @GirlNamedJesse I'm glad to hear that you loved it! I'm looking forward to reading it! 8y
ValerieAndBooks Achebe is how I'm starting my #litsyatoz author track challenge! Which means I may end up reading this also, now that you have mentioned it! 8y
133 likes7 stack adds11 comments
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LauraBeth
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It is cold and rainy today - so we're camped out here and starting this one

LeahBergen Could #Kitsy get her face a little closer to the heater?? 😂😂 8y
LauraBeth @LeahBergen we have to pull her away from it because she will actually press her face on it 🙀The other #kitsy likes to walk into the fireplace when a fire is burning - so now we can't use the fireplace... 8y
TheLibrarian Why do cats love unbearable heat? Mine lays in front on the heater and our apartment spells like burnt fur. 8y
LauraBeth @TheLibrarian complete this sentence with your choice of endings: "why do cats love..." ? 8y
LeahBergen Do they really?!? Crazy things 😂😂 8y
112 likes4 stack adds5 comments
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LauraBeth
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Added in some comfort reads (a couple of re-reads and a visit to Three Pines) to end my year 😀#wanttoreadindec @RealLifeReading

LeahBergen I was contemplating an Austen reread this month, too 🤔 8y
TheBookbabeblog84 Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite books; and I want to read "Can't touch my hair" looks good! 8y
DebinHawaii Nice! It's always a good time for P&P! 📚❤️ 8y
116 likes4 comments
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Cydster61
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Cydster61
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#booktober October favorite by my friend Okey Ndibe. Looking forward to seeing him at a book talk again on Wednesday. #diversebooks @RealLifeReading

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Cydster61
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Spent a wonderful evening at a book event with Okey Ndibe at Odyssey Bookshop in South Hadley, MA #diversebooks

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OliviaCroom
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Argh! Technical difficulties. Sorry if you're seeing this post twice.

Happy pub day to Okey Ndibe (top middle)! He was great at Franklin Park Reading Series last night, along with D. Foy (PATRICIDE), Matt Bell (SCRAPPER), Jan Michalski (THE SUMMER SHE WAS UNDER WATER), Zetta Elliott (A WISH AFTER MIDNIGHT), and Stephen O'Connor (THOMAS JEFFERSON DREAM OF SALL HEMINGS).

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Liberty
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OKEY NDIBE!!!!

AAdamson This sounds like a must read! 😀 8y
150 likes11 stack adds2 comments
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OliverDepp
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Pickpick

Foreign Gods, Inc was brilliant and delightful and that same larger view, dark wit, and ability to capture character are present in Ndibe's nonfiction. With a journalists eye on his own past he wastes no words and colors the picture fully. The subtitle says is all, "Flying turtles, colonial ghosts, and the making of a Nigerian American".

BookishFeminist What a fantastic title- I'd read it on that alone before knowing it was written by Okey Ndibe 8y
shawnmooney Sounds amazing! What @BookishFeminist said! (Except that I'm not at all familiar with this writer...) 8y
29 likes9 stack adds2 comments
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ElizabethAllen
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New book time!