Chris Abani - Song for Night: A Novella

Critical Praise for Becoming Abigail

A New York Times Editors Choice

A Chicago Reader Critics Choice

A selection of the Essence Magazine Book Club

A selection of the Black Expressions Book Club

Moody, lyrical prose reminiscent of Toni Morrisons Beloved Though the fictional Abigail exists only on the pages of Abanis novella, her character will seize the imagination of everyone who reads her story.

Essence Magazine

Abani is a fiction writer of mature and bounteous gifts Becoming Abigail is more compressed and interior [than GraceLand], a poetic treatment of terror and loneliness its sharp focus on the devastation of one young woman, has a deeper kind of resonance Abani, himself incarcerated and tortured for his writings and activism in Nigeria in the mid-80s, writes about the bodys capacity for both ecstasy and pain with an honesty and precision rarely encountered in recent fiction This is a powerful, harrowing work, made more so because, while much of the narrative seems to be a vortex of affliction, Abigails destiny is not inevitable. The small canvas suits Chris Abani.

Sam Lipsyte, New York Times Book Review

Becoming Abigail, a spare yet voluptuous tale about a young Nigerian girls escape from prostitution is so hypnotic that it begs to be read in one sitting Abigail is sensitive, courageous, and teetering on the brink of madness. Effortlessly gliding between past and present, Chris Abani spins a timeless story of misfortune and triumph.

Entertainment Weekly

A darkly poetic investigation into the pasts deceptive hold over the present Abani writes in dense, gorgeous prose. Abigail is not a creature of pity but inspiration.

The Nation

Compelling and gorgeously written, this is a coming-of-age novella like no other. Chris Abani explores the depths of loss and exploitation with what can only be described as a knowing tenderness. An extraordinary, necessary book.

Cristina Garcia, author of Dreaming in Cuban

Abani finds his place in a long line of literary refugees, from the Mexican revolutionary Ricardo Flores Magon to Bertolt Brecht and Theodor Adorno Becoming Abigail is, not surprisingly, about memory, loss, and all the cruel disjunctions of exile. Not for a moment, though, does Abani allow himself that most tempting stupefacient of exile, nostalgia. Abanis prose is diaphanous and poetic. His lyricism is elliptical, almost evasive Becoming Abigail is a hard, unsparing book, cruel in its beauty, shocking in its compassion.

Los Angeles Times Book Review

A lyrical yet devastating account of a young womans relocation to London from Nigeria Abanis abundant talent is clearly evident throughout, as is his willingness to be brutally honest without being grotesque. He also refrains from polemics and focuses solely on the artistic presentation of a young, tragic life, leaving interpretation to the reader.

Library Journal

Abanis voice brings perspective to every moment, turning pain into a beautiful painterly meditation on loss and aloneness.

Aimee Bender, author of The Girl in the Flammable Skirt

A searing girls coming-of-age novella in which a troubled Nigerian teen is threatened with becoming human trade Recalling Lucas Moodysons crushing Lilya4Ever, this portrait of a brutalized girl given no control over her life or body, features Abanis lyrical prose and deft moves between short chapters.

Publishers Weekly

Spare, haunting vignettes of exquisite delicacy Never sensationalized, the continual revelations are more shocking for being quietly told, compressed into taut moments that reveal secrets of crueltyand of loveup to the last page. Abani tells a strong young womans story with graphic empathy.

Booklist

Abanis writing never becomes didacticBecoming Abigail has the elegance and lyricism of a prose poem but doesnt soft-pedal the abuse it chronicles.

Chicago Reader

Abanis empathy for Abigails torn life is matched only by his honesty in portraying it. Nothing at all is held back. A harrowing piece of work.

Peter Orner, author of Esther Stories

Abani writes in a fearless prose He is able to toe that line between restraint and abundance, unfolding Abigails history like the raising of a bandage.

Time Out Chicago

Critical Praise for GraceLand

Winner: 2005 Hemingway/PEN Prize

Winner: 2005 Silver Medal, California Book Awards

Winner: 2005 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award

Finalist: 2005 Los Angeles Times Book Prize

Shortlisted for the Best Book Category (Africa Region) of the Commonwealth Writers Prize

25 Best Books of 2004: Los Angeles Times

Best Books of 2004: San Francisco Chronicle

Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers selection

New York Times Book Review Summer 2004 Vacation Reading/ Notable Books selection

Extraordinary This book works brilliantly in two ways. As a convincing and unpatronizing record of life in a poor Nigerian slum, and as a frighteningly honest insight into a world skewed by casual violence, its wonderful And for all the horrors, there are sweet scenes in GraceLand too, and theyre a thousand times better for being entirely unsentimental Lovely.

New York Times Book Review

Chris Abanis GraceLand is a richly detailed, poignant, and utterly fascinating look into another culture and how it is cross-pollinated by our own. It brings to mind the work of Ha Jin in its power and revelation of the new.

T. Coraghessan Boyle, author of Drop City

Abanis intensely visual styleand his sense of humor convert the stuff of hopelessness into the stuff of hope.

San Francisco Chronicle

GraceLand amply demonstrates that Abani has the energy, ambition, and compassion to create a novel that delineates and illuminates a complicated, dynamic, deeply fractured society.

Los Angeles Times

A wonderfully vivid evocation of a youth coming of age in a country unmoored from its old virtues As for the talented Chris Abani, his imaginary Elvis is as memorable as the original.

Chicago Tribune

GraceLand teems with incident, from the seedy crime dens of Maroko to the family melodramas of the Oke clan. But throughout the novels action, Abani keeps the readers gaze fixed firmly on the detailed and contradictory cast of everyday Nigerian life. Energetic and moving Abani [is] a fluid, closely observant writer.

Washington Post

Abani has written an exhilarating novel, all the more astonishing for its hard-won grace and, yes, redemption.

Village Voice

Ambitious a kind of small miracle.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

It is to be hoped that Mr. Abanis fine book finds its proper place in the world [Abanis] perception of the world is beyond or outside the common categories of contemporary fiction and he is able to describe what he perceives compellingly and effectively [Abani captures] the awful, mysterious refusal of lifes discrete pieces to fit.

New York Sun

An intensely vivid portrait of Nigeria that switches deftly between rural and urban life.

Boston Globe

Singular Abani has created a charming and complex character, at once pragmatic and philosophical about his lot in life [and] observes the chaotic tapestry of life in postcolonial Africa with the unjudging eye of a nave boy.

Philadelphia Inquirer

Abani masterfully gives us a young man who is simultaneously brave, heartless, bright, foolish, lustful, and sadly resigned to fate. In short, a perfectly drawn adolescent Abanis ear for dialogue and eye for observation lend a lyrical air In depicting how deeply external politics can affect internal thinking,