Chris Abani Becoming Abigail ISBN 13: 9781888451948

Becoming Abigail - Softcover

9781888451948: Becoming Abigail
View all copies of this ISBN edition:
 
 
"Compelling and gorgeously written, this is a coming-of-age novella like no other. Chris Abani explores the depths of loss and exploitation with what can only be described as a knowing tenderness. An extraordinary, necessary book." Cristina Garcia, author of Dreaming in Cuban

"Abani's voice brings perspective to every moment, turning pain into a beautiful painterly meditation on loss and aloneness." Aimee Bender, author of The Girl in the Flammable Skirt

Abani's empathy for Abigail's torn life is matched only by his honesty in portraying it. Nothing at all is held back. A harrowing piece of work.” Peter Orner, author of The Esther Stories

Tough, spirited, and fiercely independent Abigail is brought as a teenager to London from Nigeria by relatives who attempt to force her into prostitution. She flees, struggling to find herself in the shadow of a strong but dead mother. In spare yet haunting and lyrical prose reminiscent of Marguerite Duras, Abani brings to life a young woman who lives with a strength and inner light that will enlighten and uplift the reader.

Chris Abani is a poet and novelist and the author, most recently, of GraceLand, which won the 2005 PEN/Hemingway Prize, a Silver Medal in the California Book Awards, and was a finalist for several other prizes including the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His other prizes include a PEN Freedom-to-Write Award, a Prince Claus Award, and a Lannan Literary Fellowship. He lives and teaches in California.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author:
Chris Abani, curator of Akashic's Black Goat poetry imprint, is a Nigerian poet and novelist and the author of Song for Night, The Virgin of Flames, Becoming Abigail, and GraceLand (a selection of the Today Show Book Club; winner of the 2005 PEN/Hemingway Prize and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award).
From Publishers Weekly:
Abani follows up GraceLand, his PEN/Faulkner Award–winning boy's coming-of-age novel, with a searing girl's coming-of-age novella in which a troubled Nigerian teen is threatened with becoming human trade. Abigail's mother died giving birth to her, leaving her, as she grows, with a crippling guilt that drives her to bizarre childhood mourning rituals and, later, with the responsibility of caring for her chronically depressed father. Repeated sexual violations by male relatives and the self-imposed expectation that she live up to her idealized image of her mother create unbearable pain and contradiction. When, at the halfway point of the book, Abigail's father sends her, at age 15 , to live with her cousin-by-marriage, Peter, in London, it's as much to free her from him as to give her more opportunities. But once she arrives, her "cousin" proves malevolent, and her dehumanization begins. Recalling Lucas Moodyson's crushing Lilya4Ever, this portrait of a brutalized girl given no control over her life or body, features Abani's lyrical prose (Abigail's father's armchair "smelled of the dreams of everyone who had sat in it") and deft moves between short chapters titled "Then" and "Now"—with the latter offering little promise. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

  • PublisherAkashic Books, Ltd.
  • Publication date2006
  • ISBN 10 1888451947
  • ISBN 13 9781888451948
  • BindingPaperback
  • Edition number1
  • Number of pages128
  • Rating

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780739474112: Becoming Abigail

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  ISBN 13:  9780739474112
Publisher: Akashic Books, 2006
Hardcover

9781770100640: Becoming Abigail

Picado..., 2007
Softcover

Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace

Stock Image

Chris Abani
Published by Akashic Books (2006)
ISBN 10: 1888451947 ISBN 13: 9781888451948
New paperback Quantity: 1
Seller:
Gulf Coast Books
(Memphis, TN, U.S.A.)

Book Description paperback. Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 1888451947-11-30051765

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 16.81
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Chris Abani
Published by Akashic Books, Ltd. (2006)
ISBN 10: 1888451947 ISBN 13: 9781888451948
New Softcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
GF Books, Inc.
(Hawthorne, CA, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Book is in NEW condition. Seller Inventory # 1888451947-2-1

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 16.82
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Chris Abani
Published by Akashic Books, Ltd. (2006)
ISBN 10: 1888451947 ISBN 13: 9781888451948
New Softcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Book Deals
(Tucson, AZ, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. New! This book is in the same immaculate condition as when it was published. Seller Inventory # 353-1888451947-new

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 16.83
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Seller Image

Abani, Christopher
Published by Akashic Books, Ltd. (2006)
ISBN 10: 1888451947 ISBN 13: 9781888451948
New Softcover Quantity: 5
Seller:
GreatBookPrices
(Columbia, MD, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 4100322-n

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 14.45
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 2.64
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Chris Abani
ISBN 10: 1888451947 ISBN 13: 9781888451948
New paperback Quantity: 5
Seller:
Blackwell's
(Oxford, OX, United Kingdom)

Book Description paperback. Condition: New. Language: ENG. Seller Inventory # 9781888451948

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 19.60
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 5.73
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Chris Abani
Published by Akashic Books, Ltd. (2006)
ISBN 10: 1888451947 ISBN 13: 9781888451948
New Paperback Quantity: 1
Seller:
GoldenWavesOfBooks
(Fayetteville, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. New. Fast Shipping and good customer service. Seller Inventory # Holz_New_1888451947

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 21.43
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.00
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Abani, Christopher
Published by Akashic Books (2006)
ISBN 10: 1888451947 ISBN 13: 9781888451948
New Paperback Quantity: 2
Seller:
Revaluation Books
(Exeter, United Kingdom)

Book Description Paperback. Condition: Brand New. 120 pages. 8.25x5.25x0.50 inches. In Stock. Seller Inventory # __1888451947

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 14.06
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 12.73
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Chris Abani
Published by Akashic Books, Ltd. (2006)
ISBN 10: 1888451947 ISBN 13: 9781888451948
New Paperback Quantity: 1
Seller:
Wizard Books
(Long Beach, CA, U.S.A.)

Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. New. Seller Inventory # Wizard1888451947

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 26.85
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 3.50
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Chris Abani
Published by Akashic Books, Ltd. (2006)
ISBN 10: 1888451947 ISBN 13: 9781888451948
New Paperback Quantity: 1
Seller:
GoldBooks
(Austin, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. New Copy. Customer Service Guaranteed. Seller Inventory # think1888451947

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 27.06
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.25
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Chris Abani
Published by Akashic Books (2006)
ISBN 10: 1888451947 ISBN 13: 9781888451948
New Softcover Quantity: > 20
Seller:
Brook Bookstore
(Milano, MI, Italy)

Book Description Condition: new. Seller Inventory # e335673248b9bde91606d6a32905184a

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 20.39
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 12.10
From Italy to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds

There are more copies of this book

View all search results for this book