THIS HSE NOT FOR SALE - Softcover

Osondu, Ec

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0061990906 ISBN 13: 9780061990908

Publisher: Perennial, 2016

Synopsis

The award-winning author of Voice of America paints a vivid, fully imagined portrait of an extraordinary African family and the house that holds them together.

A powerful tale of family and community, This House Is Not for Sale brings to life an African neighborhood and one remarkable house, seen through the eyes of a young member of the household. The house lies in a town seemingly lost in time, full of colorful, larger-than-life characters; at the narrative’s heart are Grandpa, the family patriarch whose occasional cruelty is balanced by his willingness to open his doors to those in need, and the house itself, which becomes a character in its own right and takes on the scale of legend.

From the decades-long rivalry between owners of two competing convenience stores to the man who convinces his neighbors to give up their earthly possessions to prepare for the end of the world, Osondu’s story captures a place beyond the reach of the outside world, full of superstitions and myths that sustain its people.

Osondu’s prose has the lightness and magic of fable, but his themes—poverty, disease, the arrival of civilization in an isolated community—are timeless and profound. At once full of joyful energy and quiet heartbreak, This House Is Not for Sale is an utterly original novel from a master storyteller.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

“The timelessness of this ambitious debut reminds the reader of J. M. Coetzee’s Life & Times of Michael K.”—Yiyun Li, author of The Vagrants

A powerful tale of family and community, This House Is Not for Sale brings to life an African neighborhood and one remarkable house, seen through the eyes of a young member of the household. It lies in a town seemingly lost in time, full of colorful, larger-than-life characters. At the narrative’s heart are Grandpa, the family patriarch, whose occasional cruelty is balanced by his willingness to open his doors to those in need, and the house itself, which becomes a character in its own right and takes on the scale of legend.

From the decades-long rivalry between the owners of two competing convenience stores to the man who persuades his neighbors to give up their earthly possessions to prepare for the end of the world, E. C. Osondu’s story captures a place beyond the reach of the outside world, full of superstitions and myths that sustain its people. His prose has the lightness and magic of fable, but his themes—poverty, disease, the arrival of civilization in an isolated community—are timeless and profound.

“Remarkable. . . . a distinctive and singular achievement.”—Jeffery Renard Allen, author of Song of the Shank

“Marvelous.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

About the Author:

E. C. Osondu is the author of Voice of America. Born in Nigeria, he received his MFA from Syracuse University and is the winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing and a Pushcart Prize. His fiction has appeared in The Atlantic, n+1, Guernica, and other publications. He teaches at Providence College in Rhode Island.

About this edition

• Publisher: Perennial
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0061990906
• ISBN 13: 9780061990908
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192