We are all Zimbabweans now - Softcover

Kilgore, James

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1415200718 ISBN 13: 9781415200711

Publisher: Umuzi, 2009

Synopsis

In 1982 a young American historian arrives in Zimbabwe filled with idealism and enthusiasm for the benevolent new Prime Minister Robert Mugabe and the postcolonial new beginning for that country. His historic research leads him to an apparent murder case, unresolved since the days of the bush war. As he draws – or is lead – or yet mislead – closer to an answer, he becomes involved with a local woman through whom he soon finds himself in the inner circle of the new ruling class. Once the euphoria starts dissipating he encounters increasingly menacing instances of corruption and repression, including threats to himself to abandon his investigation. With every new revelation a new layer of decay is exposed and with that, his idealism retreats. In the process, the meaning of the novel’s title, taken from Mugabe’s conciliatory rhetoric at the beginning, gradually comes to mean: we are all trapped and compromised into the moral tangle and the destruction into which all the promise has degenerated. An extremely accomplished and compelling novel that deftly employs the instruments of a detective thriller.

About this title

Product Description

Unusual book

Review

"Too few writers have Kilgore's wide-angle vision. This promising first book, vividly rooted in his own experience, leaves me eager to read more by him."

--Adam Hochschild, author of "King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa"

"Written while Kilgore was in prison, this haunting debut limns an idealistic graduate student's experience in Zimbabwe just after Robert Mugabe's rise to power. . . . Kilgore has crafted an absorbing read that truly immerses readers in early 1980s Zimbabwe." --"Booklist"

"Countries and crises, like individuals, can be cast as crude outlines from a distance, in the wide shot; getting up close is the way to reveal nuance and complexity. Kilgore's novel zooms in on post-Independence 1980s Zimbabwe in just this enlightening fashion, through the eyes and experiences of an American history student, Ben Dabney, who flies in with a study grant and a believer's heart to witness a settler colony transformed into an independent nation. Kilgore's evocation of that exhilarating era of hope and change is superb, as those of us who lived through it can confirm. But what the novel does--beyond bringing place and time alive--is to onion-peel some layers of history, opening old and new assumptions to the air with stinging effect."

--Annie Holmes, coauthor of "Hope Deferred: Narratives of Zimbabwean Lives"

"Too few writers have Kilgore's wide-angle vision. This promising first book, vividly rooted in his own experience, leaves me eager to read more by him."
--Adam Hochschild, author of "King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa"

"The book is fast-paced and funny, extolling two literary virtues often missing on the Left. It is a good read--the work of a great storyteller. But it is also an invaluable object lesson--the work of a committed activist."
-- Frank B. Wilderson III, author of "Incognegro: A Memoir of Exile and Apartheid," winner of the 2008 American Book Award

"There are few novels about Americans in nations like Zimbabwe, and this one is unusually interesting. The main character comes to Zimbabwe enthusiastic about its new democracy. As he realizes that things are rapidly descending into thug rule, so do we--and it's a lot more fun learning all this from a novel than from a political science treatise!"
-- James Loewen, author of "Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your High School History Textbook Got Wrong"

Too few writers have Kilgore s wide-angle vision. This promising first book, vividly rooted in his own experience, leaves me eager to read more by him.
Adam Hochschild, author of "King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa"

"

The book is fast-paced and funny, extolling two literary virtues often missing on the Left. It is a good readthe work of a great storyteller. But it is also an invaluable object lessonthe work of a committed activist.
Frank B. Wilderson III, author of "Incognegro: A Memoir of Exile and Apartheid," winner of the 2008 American Book Award

"

There are few novels about Americans in nations like Zimbabwe, and this one is unusually interesting. The main character comes to Zimbabwe enthusiastic about its new democracy. As he realizes that things are rapidly descending into thug rule, so do weand it s a lot more fun learning all this from a novel than from a political science treatise!
James Loewen, author of "Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your High School History Textbook Got Wrong"
"

"Countries and crises, like individuals, can be cast as crude outlines from a distance, in the wide shot; getting up close is the way to reveal nuance and complexity. Kilgore s novel zooms in on post-Independence 1980s Zimbabwe in just this enlightening fashion, through the eyes and experiences of an American history student, Ben Dabney, who flies in with a study grant and a believer s heart to witness a settler colony transformed into an independent nation. Kilgore s evocation of that exhilarating era of hope and change is superb, as those of us who lived through it can confirm. But what the novel doesbeyond bringing place and time aliveis to onion-peel some layers of history, opening old and new assumptions to the air with stinging effect."
Annie Holmes, coauthor of "Hope Deferred: Narratives of Zimbabwean Lives"
"

About this edition

• Publisher: Umuzi
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1415200718
• ISBN 13: 9781415200711
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256