Say You're One of Them Uwem Akpan

I know that Oprah is controversial in a number of ways.  I know that some authors don't particularly care for Oprah's book club.  I know that it is not considered savvy to speak out in her favor; however, I have to say that I have tremendous respect for anyone who encourages people to read.  And I especially have respect  when Oprah asks her audience to indulge in reading as harrowing, and beautiful as Uwem Akpan's powerfully written Say You're One of Them.  I was reminded of the luminous stories in this collection as I read through Adichie's book.  Akpan's stories are powerfully written, brilliantly imagined.  But they are relentless, unsparing, and occasionally brutal.  Even the gentlest of them "What Language is That?" is heartrending in its depiction of the destruction caused by sectarian sentiment and violence. However, "What Language is That" is a walk in the park compared to either the tale of preparing to sell children into slavery "Fattening for Gabon" or the story in which the title of the book is spoken mother-to-child in the midst of the Rwandan devasatation "My Parent's Bedroom."

 The book is one that I cannot recommend highly enough, and I also must recommend Oprah's dedication to the cause. Is it untinged with the commercial, with the crass, and the callous world of media?  Is anything?  One can ask oneself a million questions about motive--but as long as Oprah is recommending books of this caliber to a reading republic that thinks Twilight is la creme de la creme, and makes a best seller of Dan Brown, I will remain her staunch ally in at least this facet of her public-career. 

Whether recommended by Oprah or not, you would do yourself a tremendous favor to get this collection and read it--cover to cover without pause.  It is breathtaking, beautiful, brutal, and enlightening in the same way that Rohinton Mistry's A Fine Balance helped shed light on another dark place.

*****  Highest possible recommendation