Becoming Abigail.Becoming Abigail by Chris Abani Christopher Abani (or Chris Abani) (born December 27, 1966) is a Nigerian author. He is a Professor at the University of California, Riverside and the recipient of the PEN USA Freedom-to-Write Award, the Prince Claus Award, a Lannan Literary Fellowship, a California Akashic Books, April 2006 $11.95, ISBN ISBN abbr. International Standard Book Number ISBN International Standard Book Number ISBN n abbr (= International Standard Book Number) → ISBN m 1-888-45194-7 Chris Abani follows up his 2004 award-winning novel GraceLand with this novella novella: see novel. novella Story with a compact and pointed plot, often realistic and satiric in tone. Originating in Italy during the Middle Ages, it was often based on local events; individual tales often were gathered into collections. about a flustered flus·ter tr. & intr.v. flus·tered, flus·ter·ing, flus·ters To make or become nervous or upset. n. A state of agitation, confusion, or excitement. teenage girl, Abigail, whose mother died giving birth to her. (GraceLand, which told the story of a teenage boy, Elvis, determined to make his way out of the slums of Lagos, Nigeria, by impersonating Elvis Presley, won the PEN/Hemingway Prize, the California Book Award (Silver Medal) and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for Debut Fiction.) Young Abigail is in a continuous state of grief and guilt over her mother's death and her father's subsequent depression. She also craves her own identity. ("The desire to be noticed for herself didn't go away though") She believes that if she can be her own person, her father will see her for who she is, his daughter, rather than as the person he would like her to be, his late wife, her deceased mother. Abigail's father, believing she would have better opportunities in London, asks her cousin Peter (who, unbeknownst to her father, once molested mo·lest tr.v. mo·lest·ed, mo·lest·ing, mo·lests 1. To disturb, interfere with, or annoy. 2. To subject to unwanted or improper sexual activity. Abigail) to take her there to live with him and his wife, Mary, Abigail's cousin. There Abigail meets a dark fate. Abani writes with clarity and authority about his chosen subjects. He continues to dazzle his fans with a unique prose style infused with poetry. Becoming Abigail shifts from past to present, and from present to past, with "Then" and "Now" as chapter titles. The book is bound to reach the same success as Abani's previous offering. --Reviewed by Justin Adewale Collins Justin Adewale Collins is publisher of LiterateNubian.org and a BIBR BIBR Bay Islands Beach Resort (Roatan, Honduras) BIBR Backward Indicator Bit Received staff member. |
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