Wednesday 17 June 2009

Book Review....I Do Not Come To You By Chance

Heyy blogsville,

I know I have been M.I.A for a minute but its a hot summer, am not in school and my friend is visiting from the States so I have been having too much fun to sit down in one place. Have y'all missed me?? I have plenty juicy gist coming up for you so the wait will be well worth it!!!! :-))
So I thought I would recommend a book that I have been reading on the long train rides across the country in search of fun!!LOOL
Lately I only been reading Nigerian books because there alot of really great writers covering different genres. Naijablog and Cassava republic have made it easy for me to know the latest titles, and thanks to amazon, I can get them all delivered to me!


This is the story of "a young boy Kingsley who iseager to help his family and change the world. But when his once-proud family descends into poverty after his father falls ill, he is forced to turn to his mother's infamous brother, Cash Daddy, who runs a successful empire of email scams relieving gullible Westerners of their hard earned money. Unconditional family support is the Nigerian way, but the hand Cash Daddy extends in charity has consequences. As Kingsley is drawn into Cash Daddy's outlandish world, he soon learns that nothing in Nigeria comes for free."
Firstly, the cover is very attractive, and the name is unique enough so you never forget it. It is one of those chilled out books you read over the summer and is quite funny. It is also very realistic of everyday Nigeria and uses simple and uncomplicated diction.
My favourite line in it is "In Nigeria, education may be the language of success, but it is money that does the talking".
The character of Cash Daddy is hilarious and well explored and everyone definately knows one or two Cash Daddies in Nigeria. The book is quite funny in general, and explores the justifications that the 419 scamers use to console themselves, for example Cash Daddy says that White people have been taking from Africa, and thus it is O.K for us to take from them, he also says that for them to be able to send over this much money without blinking an eye, it means there is plenty more where it came from. This side of the 419 story have never been explored before, and illustrates the greed that alot of the "mugus" possess in order for them to fall over and over again.
But it definately doesnt grip you page by page, it took me over 2weeks to finish, mostly because it goes on and on about the internet scams which is not really necessary to get the essence of the gist. You also get a sense that there is a little too much sympathy to the 419er, almost like making excuses for thier actions, which I do not agree with.
Regardless, it is one of the few Nigerian books set in the present about everyday Nigeria dealing with our everyday issues. She is definately a promising writier and I look forward to reading more of her work.
It is available on Amazon for just £6, so cop yours and let me know what you think!
Enjoy

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