The Death of Vivek Oji
A Novel
(Sprache: Englisch)
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
"Electrifying." - O: The Oprah Magazine
Named a Best Book of 2020 by The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, USA TODAY, Vanity Fair, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire, Shondaland, Teen Vogue, Vulture, Lit...
"Electrifying." - O: The Oprah Magazine
Named a Best Book of 2020 by The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, USA TODAY, Vanity Fair, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire, Shondaland, Teen Vogue, Vulture, Lit...
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Klappentext zu „The Death of Vivek Oji “
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER"Electrifying." - O: The Oprah Magazine
Named a Best Book of 2020 by The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, USA TODAY, Vanity Fair, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire, Shondaland, Teen Vogue, Vulture, Lit Hub, Bustle, Electric Literature, and BookPage
What does it mean for a family to lose a child they never really knew?
One afternoon, in a town in southeastern Nigeria, a mother opens her front door to discover her son's body, wrapped in colorful fabric, at her feet. What follows is the tumultuous, heart-wrenching story of one family's struggle to understand a child whose spirit is both gentle and mysterious. Raised by a distant father and an understanding but overprotective mother, Vivek suffers disorienting blackouts, moments of disconnection between self and surroundings. As adolescence gives way to adulthood, Vivek finds solace in friendships with the warm, boisterous daughters of the Nigerwives, foreign-born women married to Nigerian men. But Vivek's closest bond is with Osita, the worldly, high-spirited cousin whose teasing confidence masks a guarded private life. As their relationship deepens-and Osita struggles to understand Vivek's escalating crisis-the mystery gives way to a heart-stopping act of violence in a moment of exhilarating freedom.
Propulsively readable, teeming with unforgettable characters, The Death of Vivek Oji is a novel of family and friendship that challenges expectations-a dramatic story of loss and transcendence that will move every reader.
Lese-Probe zu „The Death of Vivek Oji “
OneThey burned down the market on the day Vivek Oji died.
Two
If this story was a stack of photographs-the old kind, rounded at the corners and kept in albums under the glass and lace doilies of center tables in parlors across the country-it would start with Vivek's father, Chika. The first print would be of him riding a bus to the village to visit his mother; it would show him dangling an arm out of the window, feeling the air push against his face and the breeze entering his smile.
Chika was twenty and as tall as his mother, six feet of red skin and suntouched-clay hair, teeth like polished bones. The women on the bus looked openly at him, his white shirt billowing out from the back of his neck in a cloud, and they smiled and whispered among themselves because he was beautiful. He had looks that should have lived forever, features he passed down to Vivek-the teeth, the almond eyes, the smooth skin-features that died with Vivek.
The next photograph in the stack would be of Chika's mother, Ahunna, sitting on her veranda when her son arrived, a bowl of udara beside her. Ahunna's wrapper was tied around her waist, leaving her breasts bare, and her skin was redder than Chika's, deeper and older, like a pot that had been bled over in its firing. She had fine wrinkles around her eyes, hair plaited into tight cornrows, and her left foot was bandaged and propped up on a stool.
"Mama! Gini mere?!" Chika cried when he saw her, running up the veranda stairs. "Are you all right? Why didn't you send someone?"
... mehr
"There was no need to disturb you," Ahunna replied, splitting open an udara and sucking out its flesh. The large compound of her village house stretched around them-old family land, a whole legacy in earth that she'd held onto ever since Chika's father died several years ago. "I stepped on a stick when I was on the farm," she explained, as her son sat down beside her. "Mary took me to the hospital. Everything is fine now." She spat udara seeds from her mouth like small black bullets.
Mary was his brother Ekene's wife, a full and soft girl with cheeks like small clouds. They had married a few months ago, and Chika had watched Mary float down the aisle, white lace gathered around her body and a veil obscuring her pretty mouth. Ekene had been waiting for her at the altar, his spine stern and proud, his skin gleaming like wet loam against the tarred black of his suit. Chika had never seen his brother look so tender, the way his long fingers trembled, the love and pride simmering in his eyes. Mary had to tilt her head up to look at Ekene as they recited their vows-the men in their family were always tall-and Chika had watched her throat curve, her face glowing as his brother lifted up the tulle and kissed her. After the wedding, Ekene decided to move out of the village and into town, into the bustle and noise of Owerri, so Mary was staying with Ahunna while Ekene went to set up their new life. Chika stole a glance at Mary from the veranda as she watered the hibiscus garden, her hair tied back in a frayed knot, wearing a loose cotton dress in a faded floral print. She looked like home, like something he could fall into, whirling through her hips and thighs and breasts.
His mother frowned at him. "Mind yourself," she warned, as if she could read his mind. "That's your brother's wife."
Chika's face burned. "I don't know what you're talking about, Mama."
Ahunna didn't blink. "Go and find your own wife, just don't start any wahala in this house with this girl. Your brother is coming to collect her soon."
Chika reached out and took her hand. "I'm not starting anything, Mama." She scoffed but didn't pull her hand away. They sat like
"There was no need to disturb you," Ahunna replied, splitting open an udara and sucking out its flesh. The large compound of her village house stretched around them-old family land, a whole legacy in earth that she'd held onto ever since Chika's father died several years ago. "I stepped on a stick when I was on the farm," she explained, as her son sat down beside her. "Mary took me to the hospital. Everything is fine now." She spat udara seeds from her mouth like small black bullets.
Mary was his brother Ekene's wife, a full and soft girl with cheeks like small clouds. They had married a few months ago, and Chika had watched Mary float down the aisle, white lace gathered around her body and a veil obscuring her pretty mouth. Ekene had been waiting for her at the altar, his spine stern and proud, his skin gleaming like wet loam against the tarred black of his suit. Chika had never seen his brother look so tender, the way his long fingers trembled, the love and pride simmering in his eyes. Mary had to tilt her head up to look at Ekene as they recited their vows-the men in their family were always tall-and Chika had watched her throat curve, her face glowing as his brother lifted up the tulle and kissed her. After the wedding, Ekene decided to move out of the village and into town, into the bustle and noise of Owerri, so Mary was staying with Ahunna while Ekene went to set up their new life. Chika stole a glance at Mary from the veranda as she watered the hibiscus garden, her hair tied back in a frayed knot, wearing a loose cotton dress in a faded floral print. She looked like home, like something he could fall into, whirling through her hips and thighs and breasts.
His mother frowned at him. "Mind yourself," she warned, as if she could read his mind. "That's your brother's wife."
Chika's face burned. "I don't know what you're talking about, Mama."
Ahunna didn't blink. "Go and find your own wife, just don't start any wahala in this house with this girl. Your brother is coming to collect her soon."
Chika reached out and took her hand. "I'm not starting anything, Mama." She scoffed but didn't pull her hand away. They sat like
... weniger
Autoren-Porträt von Akwaeke Emezi
Akwaeke Emezi
Bibliographische Angaben
- Autor: Akwaeke Emezi
- 2021, 256 Seiten, Maße: 20,1 x 12,9 cm, Kartoniert (TB), Englisch
- Verlag: Riverhead Books
- ISBN-10: 0525541624
- ISBN-13: 9780525541622
- Erscheinungsdatum: 17.07.2021
Sprache:
Englisch
Pressezitat
Praise for The Death of Vivek Oji:[A] dazzling, devastating story . . . A puzzle wrapped in beautiful language, raising questions of identity and loyalty that are as unanswerable as they are important. The New York Times Book Review
Electrifying O: The Oprah Magazine
Brilliant . . . This is a book full of line-level beauty; a book of multiple perspectives, each rendered organically and fully; a book of mystery and community and love. . . . A special read that will not soon be forgotten. Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, author of Friday Black
Remarkably assured and graceful. . . . Emezi has once again encouraged us to embrace a fuller spectrum of human experience. The Washington Post
This affecting novel of self-invention . . . poses searching questions about gender and acceptance. The New Yorker
Instead of getting flattened by death, Vivek becomes more vivid on each page. He glows like the sun, impossible to look at directly yet utterly charismatic. I missed him when the novel was done. NPR
One of the most highly acclaimed novels of 2020. Newsweek
Powerful . . . [a] slim book that contains as wide a range of experience as any saga a little bit like Vivek s brief yet gloriously expansive life. Los Angeles Times
One of the best books of 2020. . . . a vivid, propulsive experience. . . . about freedom and our capacity to imagine what it s like to be someone else, or perhaps, more so, what it s like to experience them as they are. Goop
A testament to Emezi s immense literary prowess. Elle
Brilliant . . . [A] beautifully tragic story of self-determined wellness, peculiar belonging, communal acceptance, and pursuing what one wants from love . . . this book is a liminal force that determines, in its own tricky way, the path to a life worth knowing. Oluwantomisin Oredein, The Christian Century
... mehr
Equal parts heartwarming and emotionally shattering, the life and death of Vivek Oji is truly unforgettable. Teen Vogue
Emezi has a gift for prose that is often as visceral, tender and heartbreaking as what it describes. . . . While the novel sets out to solve the mystery of Oji s death, what gives it power is how it uncovers the story of a person shielded by the peace of self-acceptance against the pain of the world. Here is proof of what good fiction does best: it is an antidote to invisibility. The Guardian
Emezi s tender prose deftly depicts the inner lives of Vivek, Osita and those around them. . . . While the mystery surrounding Vivek s death is finally revealed towards the end of this spellbinding mystery, what proves most satisfying is all that is learnt in the search for truth. Financial Times
Emezi is a beacon of literary genius in Emezi s skilled hands, the mosaic of love, pain, community, family, trauma, and beauty, that make the crown to which Vivek is the bloody jewel, is crafted into an unforgettable and deeply moving story. Lambda Literary
A robust literary triumph. . . . A sensitively drawn, achingly beautiful portrayal of the boundaries of personal, gender and societal identities. Chicago Review of Books
While there are many books that stay with us long after we put them down,The Death of Vivek Oji is as permanent as a tattoo. Paper Mag
Equal parts brilliant and heartbreaking as readers are taken on a journey to discover the hidden parts of Vivek's life and the mystery surrounding his death. Marie Claire
[One] of our greatest living writers, Akwaeke Emezi is back . . . . a story of chosen family, discovery, love, pain, grief, and how colonialism infects individuals and nations. Shondaland
Electrifying . . . The Death of Vivek Oji is a masterful contemplation on gender identity and fluidity, the heavy weight of shame, and the importance of having friends and family who accept you rather than attempt to fix you. Salon
Propulsive and resonant. . . . Emezi is a dazzling literary talent whose works cut to the quick of the spiritual self. Esquire
Although Akwaeke Emezi introduces us to Vivek Oji in death[,] it is his life that will resonate with readers, long after they've turned this book's final page. Refinery29
A work of elegant musicality and ingenuity [that draws] the reader into a world of memories, talismans, photographs, spirits, and intimacies. Myriam Gurba, Zora
A masterful winding and unwinding of the tethers of love, shame, identity, intimacy, and violence. . . . The story takes us into the intimate worlds of each character, with chapters moving fluidly between consciousness and the voice that sees all of them moving and making choices. . . . [The Death of Vivek Oji] made me want to live. Man Repeller
The Death of Vivek Oji is an alchemy of personal family story and untouchable myth. It circles itself, like a shark preparing to take down its prey; reader, you will be disarmed. LitHub
An astonishing book . . . With warmth and great detail, Emezi explores the complicated friction of cultural clashes and the loss of youthful innocence. Stylist
A deep, tender look at a family unraveling around the tragic and early loss of someone they loved but never understood. . . . beautifully captures an ordinary family in all its loving, hurtful, messy glory. Shelf Awareness
Emezi offers a richly textured depiction of a middle-class community in Nigeria . . . Vividly written and deeply affecting. Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Praise for Akwaeke Emezi:
Dazzling. Los Angeles Times
Extraordinarily powerful. Edwidge Danticat, The New Yorker
Remarkable and daring. The New York Times Book Review
The arrival of a major talent. San Francisco Chronicle
Akwaeke Emezi parts the seas of the self. Vanity Fair
Like watching the beginning of something big. Vox
Emezi has a gift for prose that is often as visceral, tender and heartbreaking as what it describes. . . . While the novel sets out to solve the mystery of Oji s death, what gives it power is how it uncovers the story of a person shielded by the peace of self-acceptance against the pain of the world. Here is proof of what good fiction does best: it is an antidote to invisibility. The Guardian
Emezi s tender prose deftly depicts the inner lives of Vivek, Osita and those around them. . . . While the mystery surrounding Vivek s death is finally revealed towards the end of this spellbinding mystery, what proves most satisfying is all that is learnt in the search for truth. Financial Times
Emezi is a beacon of literary genius in Emezi s skilled hands, the mosaic of love, pain, community, family, trauma, and beauty, that make the crown to which Vivek is the bloody jewel, is crafted into an unforgettable and deeply moving story. Lambda Literary
A robust literary triumph. . . . A sensitively drawn, achingly beautiful portrayal of the boundaries of personal, gender and societal identities. Chicago Review of Books
While there are many books that stay with us long after we put them down,The Death of Vivek Oji is as permanent as a tattoo. Paper Mag
Equal parts brilliant and heartbreaking as readers are taken on a journey to discover the hidden parts of Vivek's life and the mystery surrounding his death. Marie Claire
[One] of our greatest living writers, Akwaeke Emezi is back . . . . a story of chosen family, discovery, love, pain, grief, and how colonialism infects individuals and nations. Shondaland
Electrifying . . . The Death of Vivek Oji is a masterful contemplation on gender identity and fluidity, the heavy weight of shame, and the importance of having friends and family who accept you rather than attempt to fix you. Salon
Propulsive and resonant. . . . Emezi is a dazzling literary talent whose works cut to the quick of the spiritual self. Esquire
Although Akwaeke Emezi introduces us to Vivek Oji in death[,] it is his life that will resonate with readers, long after they've turned this book's final page. Refinery29
A work of elegant musicality and ingenuity [that draws] the reader into a world of memories, talismans, photographs, spirits, and intimacies. Myriam Gurba, Zora
A masterful winding and unwinding of the tethers of love, shame, identity, intimacy, and violence. . . . The story takes us into the intimate worlds of each character, with chapters moving fluidly between consciousness and the voice that sees all of them moving and making choices. . . . [The Death of Vivek Oji] made me want to live. Man Repeller
The Death of Vivek Oji is an alchemy of personal family story and untouchable myth. It circles itself, like a shark preparing to take down its prey; reader, you will be disarmed. LitHub
An astonishing book . . . With warmth and great detail, Emezi explores the complicated friction of cultural clashes and the loss of youthful innocence. Stylist
A deep, tender look at a family unraveling around the tragic and early loss of someone they loved but never understood. . . . beautifully captures an ordinary family in all its loving, hurtful, messy glory. Shelf Awareness
Emezi offers a richly textured depiction of a middle-class community in Nigeria . . . Vividly written and deeply affecting. Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Praise for Akwaeke Emezi:
Dazzling. Los Angeles Times
Extraordinarily powerful. Edwidge Danticat, The New Yorker
Remarkable and daring. The New York Times Book Review
The arrival of a major talent. San Francisco Chronicle
Akwaeke Emezi parts the seas of the self. Vanity Fair
Like watching the beginning of something big. Vox
... weniger
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