Search Sweet Country

By Kojo Laing

Book Overview

Search Sweet Country?one of the greatest novels ever to come out of the African continent?follows the lives of an eclectic and inextricably interconnected group of Ghanaians living in and around the sprawling, chaotic city of Accra in the mid-1970s. Bringing to life the bustling markets and bars in dizzying, lyrical prose, Laing weaves a story filled with bizarre and often melancholy characters: an idealistic professor, a lovely young witch, a wide-eyed student, a corrupt politician and his hack sidekick, a business-savvy young woman, a healer, a bishop, a crazy man intent on founding his own village. Their collective narratives create a portrait of a country where colonialism is dying, but democracy remains elusive.

Search Sweet Country is a timeless, near-forgotten gem by a virtuosic writer whose bold and bawdy voice and deep wisdom are as necessary now as they were when the book was first published. Like Joyce's Dublin and Dickens's London, Laing's Accra brims with both lush specificity and universal relevance. First published in 1986, this new edition comes beautifully packaged and with a foreword by Binyavanga Wainaina, winner of the prestigious Caine Prize for African Writing, and director of the Chinua Achebe Centre for African Literature and Languages at Bard College.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1936365227
• ISBN13: 9781936365227
• Release Date: May 2012
• Publisher: McSweeney's
• Length: 329 Pages
• Weight: 1.53 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.3" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

SEARCH SWEET COUNTRY

I WAS PLEASANTLY SURPRISED TO FIND A WRITER WHO IS AFRICAN AND HAD THE BRAVERY TO WRITE A WORK OF FICTION THAT HAD CADENCES OF SCIENCE FICTION,MIXING IT WITH THE WELL USED FOLKLORE OF AFRICA.NOT SINCE THE PALM WINE DRINKARD HAVE I BEEN SO MESMERISED AND MOVED BY THE SHERE INVENTIVENESS OF A BOOK.REMINISCENT OF RUSHDIES GRIMUS,THE STORY WAS A JOY TO READ AND INSPIRED ME TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PRODIGIOUS AUTHOR WHOM I FELT WAS POSSESSED WITH THE RARE GIFT OF INVENTIVE BRAVERY.SADLY,TRY AS I MAY I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO OBTAIN ANOTHER OF HIS WORKS,BUT I HAVE BEEN BREATHTAKEN BY CRITICAL REVIEWS OF WEST AFRICAN MAGICAL REALISM WHICH INCLUDE HIS TWO OTHER WORKS.SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP THIS ENGINE CHURN AGAIN,HE REALLY MOVED ME TO ALMOST STEALING THE ONLY COPY I HAVE EVER SEEN OF HIS BOOK(AT THE LIBRARY).I AM A YOUNG AFRICAN POET,WHO WOULD ONE DAY LOVE TO SEE SUCH WORKS AS KOJO LAINGS RE-READ,RE PRINTED,AND HE,REPAYED FOR HIS GREAT SERVISE.