Africa's best books and more...
Over the years, the position of the white South African inside the country could either be labelled a curse or a blessing. Unlike their black fellow countrymen who were tied down by ancestry, when trouble came knocking, whites could always haul out the passports and ‘pack for Perth’. In Ways of Staying (published in 2010 by Portobello Books), South African journalist Kevin Bloom ponders ways of staying even when circumstances motivate for the chicken run.
A senior lecturer in sociology at Wits University, the author Sarah Mosoetsa works from the premise that the family is the microcosm of society. In her book (published in 2011 by Witwatersrand University Press), Mosoetsa looks at African households in the KwaZulu/Natal townships of Mpumalanga [Hammersdale] and Enhlalakahle [Greytown]. What she finds is shockingly representative of the entire country – indeed the whole continent and the Third World.
Beyond the Dance shines the light on female genital mutilation or circumcision, a practice that is common in some parts of Africa, and elsewhere. The book is a compilation of testimonies, edited by Ugandan feminist authors, Violet Barungi and Hilda Twongyeirwe. It features testimonies from women, who have personally experienced circumcision.
Many books have been written about relationships, but few tell you how to do it right, or how to spot the Mr. or Mrs. Right and walk them down the aisle. Single and Searching? How to Find and Marry Mr. Right is particularly written with that lady, tired of the dating game, and intending to get married in mind.
It is common knowledge that Africa has borne the brunt of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. However, debate continues in many circles about whether multinational drug companies and their executives made decisions that hurt global efforts to fight the disease at its peak. Did the big pharma companies put profits over people in their early response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic?
Chosen by the New York Times as one its 100 notable books of 2010, Kwame Appiah’s latest book, The Honor Code: How Moral Revolutions Happen, is a philosophical work that puts honor at the centre of moral change.
For a man who was raised in Ghana, educated in England, and who has taught philosophy on three continents, it is, perhaps, not surprising that his latest work is global in every sense.
Like so many overly ambitious and simplistic Africans, Isabirye, the play’s central character goes to great length to “buy” for a visa to fly abroad for greener pastures. He sells off most of his assets, in a dubious quest to fly abroad. Excited by his big plans, Isabirye’s family look forward to the pending flow of cash when their father and breadwinner goes overseas. It seems quite obvious to them that when the dollars from Isabirye’s sweat start to flow in, it will provide a vaccine to all their financial problems
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