The author of Foreign Gods, Inc. and Arrows of Rain tells his own immigrant’s tale, where what is lost in translation is often as hilarious as it is harrowing.Okey Ndibe’s funny, charming, and penetrating memoir tells of his move from Nigeria to America, where he came to edit the influential—but forever teetering on the verge of insolvency—African Commentary magazine. It recounts stories of Ndibe’s relationships with Chinua Achebe, Wole S...

Okey Ndibe's critically-acclaimed debut novel, Arrows of Rain is a vital exploration into the importance of speaking truth to power even when no one is listening.In the country of Madia, the General has declared himself Life-President of the Republic. According to him, ninety-nine percent of Madians voted for it.On the day of his ascendency, however, a young sex worker is found dead on a beach. The last man who spoke to her, the 'm...

From a disciple of the late Chinua Achebe comes a masterful and universally acclaimed novel that is at once a taut, literary thriller and an indictment of greed’s power to subsume all things, including the sacred.Foreign Gods, Inc., tells the story of Ike, a New York-based Nigerian cab driver who sets out to steal the statue of an ancient war deity from his home village and sell it to a New York gallery.Ike's plan is fueled by desperation. Despite ...

To define Nigeria is to tell a half-truth. Many have tried, but most have concluded that it is impossible to capture the true scope and significance of Africa’s most populous nation through words or images.Yet here, through personal essays from 24 of its writers, a more accurate picture comes into view, and in his essay Okey Ndibe explores the country that draws conflicting emotions from him through the memory of his grandfather’s life and the histories that make u...

In Nigerian novelist and journalist Okey Ndibe's powerful debut novel, living to tell the tale is not enough—you must also tell it. Twenty years after its original publication, and now with a new Foreword by the author, Arrows of Rain remains a vital exploration of the importance of story in opposition to corruption and the steep cost of speaking truth to power.“A story that must be told never forgives silence.”In the country of Ma...

Foreign Gods, Inc. tells the story of Ike, a New York–based Nigerian cab driver who sets out to steal the statue of an ancient war deity from his home village and sell it to a New York gallery.Ike's plan is fueled by desperation. Despite a degree in economics from a major American college, his strong accent has barred him from the corporate world. Forced to eke out a living as a cab driver, he is unable to manage the emotional and material needs of a temperamental African ...

Okey Ndibe's funny, charming, and penetrating memoir tells of his move from Nigeria to America, where he came to edit the influential-but forever teetering on the verge of insolvency-African Commentary magazine. It recounts stories of Ndibe's relationships with Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, and other literary figures; examines the differences between Nigerian and American etiquette and politics; recalls an incident of racial profiling just 13 days after he arrived in the US, in which he was...

Originally published in Heineman's prestigious "African Writers Series," this is Arrows'first publication in the US. Coming only months after the whirlwind of publicity for Foreign Gods, Inc., we expect continued attention for Okey Ndibe as a major new voice in world literature. Set in a fictitious post-colonial African nation, the discovery of the body of a drowned prostitute leads to an exploration of the conflict between an individual and the modern African state. A gripping study of tr...