Long Train to the Redeeming Sin: Stories about African Women

by Kola Boof

"In the book of the women…they are dark and light, wide and shapely, thin as reeds…their hair eats the sun and their eyes swallow the moon…these are Black Women…the daughters of the earth's first... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0971201900
• ISBN13: 9780971201903
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: Door of Kush
• Length: 179 Pages
• Weight: 1.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A New Classic for the Black Folks

If you have read books at school like I had to by Langston Hughes, James Baldwin and people like that then you will not be disappointed with LONG TRAIN TO SIN. I never heard of Kola Boof six months ago, but now she's one of my 3 favorite authors. I personally enjoyed her novel "Flesh and the Devil" better than this one, but these short stories are solid and the presentation is tight. This is more the kind of book they make you read in English or History class, but it's not boring and its different, so I have to give it a str8 up five stars.

It's true...Black Women are Beautiful!

My only complaint is that this book is too short. My girlfriend was given this book as a gift and didn't feel like reading about women in Africa, so I picked it up and I couldn't put it down. Man, it's powerful. It's about all these different African women in different parts of Africa and it tells a lot of things about black women that I never thought about. A lot of it was sad and lot of it was anger at black men and the white race, but the lives of these women is so interesting that I did not mind that. Warning, this book is not for young people, because the sexual themes are graphic and there is a graphic castration of a white man. As a white man in Iowa, I just want to say that Black Women are beautiful.

University of Pennsylvania

I would never have chosen to read a book like this but I'm glad my Political Science professor made us read it. The stories of the African women in this book have touched me greatly being that I'm a white male with little knowledge about the details on issues like female genital mutilation or colorism among Africans. I felt very moved by the stories "Boy Magic" and "Day of Vow" in particular and I enjoyed the exploration of why they circumcise the females in the first story "The Lioness". Overall the book made me very curious to seek out and date a black girl now because I never thought of their beauty in such magical terms as Kola Boof describes their beauty. I had to give the book five stars because it is rare to find a book by an African woman who is so proud to be African and writes so poetically about black women's lives. I felt great respect for black women all over the world after I finished reading this book. Kola Boof is a very prolific writer and very different from other black writers.

BACK IN PRINT...for 2004!!

Thank the powers that be!I'm a white woman in love!This is my favorite short story collection EVER. And I'm not even a "Sista". Sorry all. I love this book and I so admire Kola Boof's valiant struggle. I have been a fan ever since I saw her on FOX NEWS and read about her online. She is such a gifted artist and a brave political thinker. I am so awed by her life story and her determination to be herself.WARNING: As herself--she is not like any other type of black woman you have ever read. She is from Africa. Her books make you uncomforable. VERY UNCOMFORTABLE. She poses naked on the back of all her book covers, so let that be a warning. She is NOT the status quo type of author. She's kinda "touched". She wants to abolish men's religions and start a women's religion!But I love this book of stories so much. I can't wait for her novel "Flesh and the Devil" to come out next month. I hear its pretty wild, and although I've warned that she cuts White Women a new "a--ole" in that book, I still gotta read it. I love you Kola if you read this. It's Laurie at Stanford University!!Your books tell it like it is. They entertain and they are so incredibly different from everything else on the market. You have no competition, because you are one of a kind. A true African goddess. Please come to Stanford University when you start doing readings!! I give this short story collection 5 stars. MY FAVORITE STORIES in the book are "Day of Vow", then "Black America Diva Girl", then "The Lioness", then "Boy Magic". Each one of those stories would make a good movie or a good novel all by themselves.ENJOY!!! But beware. It's the strange world of Kola Boof!!!