Chris Abani: Graceland (Today Show Pick January 2005)

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Graceland (Today Show Pick January 2005)

"A richly detailed, poignant, and utterly fascinating look into another culture and how it is cross-pollinated by our own. It brings to mind the work of Ha Jin in its power and revelation of the new."--T. Coraghessan Boyle

The sprawling, swampy, cacophonous city of Lagos, Nigeria, provides the backdrop to the story of Elvis, a teenage Elvis impersonator hoping to make his way out... (read more)

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Rated 5 stars

“Meet a street urchin who doesn't sell chicklets or bags of water, he impersonates Elvis in Lagos, Nigeria. Abani is the Chuck Palanhiuk of Nigeria. His narrative in this story is nothing short of brilliant, and is packed full of anguish, joy, and complex characters.”

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Rated 4 stars

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Rated 4 stars

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artemis_98 said:

“A whirlwind tour through Maroko, a notorious slum of Lagos, Nigeria, on the heels of an Elvis-imitating street performer and his underworld guide, a young man named "Redemption." Even if the plot sometimes seems to veer out of control—involving stolen organs and international cartels, and peppered with Ibo recipes and cosmology—Abani's debut novel announced him as a writer to be reckoned with.
From Vanity Fair July 2007”

posted Thursday, July 12 2007

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