Love Is Power, or Something Like That: Stories - Softcover

Barrett, A. Igoni

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1555976409 ISBN 13: 9781555976408

Publisher: Graywolf Press, 2013

Synopsis

Vivid, powerful stories of contemporary Nigeria, from a talented young author

* An NPR, Flavorwire, and Largehearted Boy Best Book of the Year * One of the Millions's Most Anticipated Books of 2013 *

When it comes to love, things are not always what they seem. In contemporary Lagos, a young boy may pose as a woman online, and a maid may be suspected of sleeping with her employer and yet still become a young wife's confidante. Men and women can be objects of fantasy, the subject of beery soliloquies. They can be trophies or status symbols. Or they can be overwhelming in their need.
In the wide-ranging stories in Love Is Power, or Something Like That, A. Igoni Barrett roams the streets with people from all stations of life. A man with acute halitosis navigates the chaos of the Lagos bus system. A minor policeman, full of the authority and corruption of his uniform, beats his wife. A family's fortunes fall from love and wealth to infidelity and poverty as poor choices unfurl over three generations. With humor and tenderness, Barrett introduces us to an utterly modern Nigeria, where desire is a means to an end, and love is a power as real as money.

About this title

About the Author

A. Igoni Barrett is a winner of the 2005 BBC World Service short-story competition, the recipient of a Chinua Achebe Center Fellowship, a Norman Mailer Center Fellowship, and a Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Residency. He lives in Nigeria.

Reviews

Barrett’s confident debut short story collection offers vibrant tales of modern-day Nigeria. In Dream Chaser, a bright 15-year-old skips school to pursue his fortunes and schemes at a cyber café, where, posing as a twentysomething Liberian woman, he strings along an elderly American. The wry My Smelling Mouth Problem follows a young man whose halitosis indirectly reveals the paradox of Lagos’ public transportation. In the title story, a corrupt policeman is both compelled and appalled by his intuitive and stubborn desire for power as he blurs the lines between his compulsions toward work and family. The affecting Godspeed and Perpetua follows the rocky marriage of a bureaucrat and his wife. Though the two marry as strangers, their love slowly grows until the birth of their daughter, Daujo. As Daujo grows up, she favors Godspeed over Perpetua, leading to a chaotic relationship that ebbs and flows along with the conflicts of their country. Barrett’s varied characters provide nuanced perspectives on love and kinship amid the chaos and reality of everyday life. --Leah Strauss

Edition details

• Publisher: Graywolf Press
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1555976409
• ISBN 13: 9781555976408
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 176