Ryszard Kapuscinski was a legendary journalist and writer whose previous books include ANOTHER DAY OF LIFE, THE EMPEROR: DOWNFALL OF AN AUTOCRAT (which Salman Rushdie called 'an unforgettable, fiercely comic, and finally compassionate book'), SHAH OF SHAHS, IMPERIUM and THE SOCCER WAR.
"This harrowing, at times shattering, chronicle of 40 years of
adventures in Africa finds Kapuscinski in trouble again. . . . He
crushes a cobra to save his life, moves with nomads through
Somalia, and waits to die from thirst beneath a truck in the
Sahara. Kapuscinski alternates between plain prose and shimmering
imagery, using understatement to dispel easy stereotypes about
Africa and Africans, and finishing a paragraph or two of spare
exposition with some dazzling revelation or note of remorse that
leaves you reeling. With rare exception, these distant episodes
amaze." -- Brad Wieners, "Outside
""An astonishing piece of writing . . . as vital a book as any I've
read in recent years, an outstanding introduction to the tangled
threads of African culture and politics and a manual in the modes
of human cruelty and redemption . . . Kapuscinski . . . may be the
greatest journalist of our time. . . . Kapuscinski bears his
historical baggae lightly through the African landscape, but his
inability to tell the story in the dispassionate tones of an
outsider is what gives this visionary book such power." -- Mark
Levine, "Men's Journal "From the U.K.: "
""A dazzling narrative historian, using his own experience as the
principal archive. . . . he is never less than clear and pungent;
his short chapter on the genocidal hatreds of Rwanda is worth a
hundred newspaper features. . . . He brings the world to us as
nobody else." -- Ian Jack, "The Observer"
"Kapuscinski doesn't just 'cover' Africa -- he knows it. His
perspective is both vast and uniquely informed." -- Keith Wilson,
"Focus"
"His book most successfully conveys the charms, frustrations,
tragedies, comedies, brutalities, and kindnesses of life in Africa.
. . . as an observer, and as a recorder of his observations, he is
second to none." -- Anthony Daniels, "Sunday Telegraph
"
"His is the first wide-ranging, elegant, aristocratic intelligence
since Conrad's to bear on Africa in all its perplexity. . . .
Kapuscinski is a master of the charismatic shorthand that leaves
the reader knowing all there is to know, yet wanting to know more."
-- Jeremy Harding," Evening Standard"
"Both subtle and haunting, a book written with love and longing, as
sharp and life-enhancing as the sun that rises on an African
morning." -- Anthony Sattin, "Sunday Times"
"An elliptical picture of African life that is intellectually acute
and emotionally rich." -- Will Cohu," Daily Telegraph"
"He has given the truest, least partial, most comprehensive and
vivid account of what life is like on our planet. He is an
unflinching witness "and" an exuberant stylist." -- Geoff Dyer,
"The Guardian"
" This harrowing, at times shattering, chronicle of 40 years of
adventures in Africa finds Kapuscinski in trouble again. . . . He
crushes a cobra to save his life, moves with nomads through
Somalia, and waits to die from thirst beneath a truck in the
Sahara. Kapuscinski alternates between plain prose and shimmering
imagery, using understatement to dispel easy stereotypes about
Africa and Africans, and finishing a paragraph or two of spare
exposition with some dazzling revelation or note of remorse that
leaves you reeling. With rare exception, these distant episodes
amaze." -- Brad Wieners, "Outside
"" An astonishing piece of writing . . . as vital a book as any
I've read in recent years, an outstanding introduction to the
tangled threads of African culture and politics and a manual in the
modes of human cruelty and redemption . . . Kapuscinski . . . may
be the greatest journalist of our time. . . . Kapuscinski bears his
historical baggae lightly through the African landscape, but his
inability to tell the story in the dispassionate tones of an
outsider is what gives this visionary book such power." -- Mark
Levine, "Men's Journal "From the U.K.: "
"" A dazzling narrative historian, using his own experience as the
principal archive. . . . he is never less than clear and pungent;
his short chapter on the genocidal hatreds of Rwanda is worth a
hundred newspaper features. . . . He brings the world to us as
nobody else." -- Ian Jack, "The Observer"
" Kapuscinski doesn't just 'cover' Africa -- he knows it. His
perspective is both vast and uniquely informed." -- Keith Wilson,
"Focus"
" His book most successfullyconveys the charms, frustrations,
tragedies, comedies, brutalities, and kindnesses of life in Africa.
. . . as an observer, and as a recorder of his observations, he is
second to none." -- Anthony Daniels, "Sunday Telegraph
"
" His is the first wide-ranging, elegant, aristocratic intelligence
since Conrad's to bear on Africa in all its perplexity. . . .
Kapuscinski is a master of the charismatic shorthand that leaves
the reader knowing all there is to know, yet wanting to know more."
-- Jeremy Harding," Evening Standard"
" Both subtle and haunting, a book written with love and longing,
as sharp and life-enhancing as the sun that rises on an African
morning." -- Anthony Sattin, "Sunday Times"
" An elliptical picture of African life that is intellectually
acute and emotionally rich." -- Will Cohu," Daily Telegraph"
" He has given the truest, least partial, most comprehensive and
vivid account of what life is like on our planet. He is an
unflinching witness "and" an exuberant stylist." -- Geoff Dyer,
"The Guardian"
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