Every Day is for the Thief

A couple of years ago I mentioned "teju cole, a temporary blog reporting on a visit home by a Nigerian long resident in the U.S.; it's full of beauty, sadness, and keen observations on life in Nigeria and in general," adding "I recommend it to your attention before it vanishes away at the end of the month." Towards the end of the month I provided a few extended quotes in this post, and I figured that would be the end of it—anyone who didn't catch it during its brief run was out of luck.

But Cassava Republic Press, based in Abuja, Nigeria, and aiming "to make quality contemporary literature available to the West African market at an affordable price," has published Every Day is for the Thief, a novel based on the contents of the blog, and I'm here to report that it holds up excellently well in permanent form (with lovely photographs presumably by the author). The publisher says "His subtle and nuanced prose explores themes as diverse as the minor joys of daily Lagosian existence to the crudities of contemporary forms of corruption"; the Author's Note says "What could possibly be said about this most complex of cities that could compete with the reality?... I have sought to capture a contemporary moment in the life of the city in which I grew up."

As so often, Languagehat got there first...

(The book is now available on Amazon)