2024 the best thief in the world review

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(as of Dec 04, 2024 03:30:15 UTC - Details)

Named One of the Ten Best Books of The Year by Dwight Garner, The New York Times

Named One of the Best Books of the Year by San Francisco Chronicle | NPR | The Root | The Telegraph | The Globe and Mail

National Bestseller Finalist, Phillis Wheatley Book Award Teju Cole Was Named One of The Most Influential Africans of The Year by New African Magazine

For readers and listeners of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Michael Ondaatje, Every Day Is for the Thief is a wholly original work of fiction by Teju Cole, whose critically acclaimed debut, Open City, was the winner of the PEN/Hemingway Award and a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, and was named one of the best books of the year by more than twenty publications.

Fifteen years is a long time to be away from home. It feels longer still because I left under a cloud.

A young Nigerian living in New York City goes home to Lagos for a short visit, finding a city both familiar and strange. In a city dense with story, the unnamed narrator moves through a mosaic of life, hoping to find inspiration for his own. He witnesses the "yahoo yahoo" diligently perpetrating email frauds from an Internet café, longs after a mysterious woman reading on a public bus who disembarks and disappears into a bookless crowd, and recalls the tragic fate of an 11-year-old boy accused of stealing at a local market.

Along the way, the man reconnects with old friends, a former girlfriend, and extended family, taps into the energies of Lagos life - creative, malevolent, ambiguous - and slowly begins to reconcile the profound changes that have taken place in his country and the truth about himself.

In spare, precise prose that sees humanity everywhere, Every Day Is for the Thief - originally published in Nigeria in 2007 - is a wholly original work of fiction. This revised and updated edition is the first version of this unique book to be made available outside Africa. You've never read a book like Every Day Is for the Thief because no one writes like Teju Cole.

Praise for Every Day Is for the Thief

"A luminous rumination on storytelling and place, exile and return...extraordinary." (San Francisco Chronicle)

"Cole is following in a long tradition of writerly walkers who, in the tradition of Baudelaire, make their way through urban spaces on foot and take their time doing so. Like Alfred Kazin, Joseph Mitchell, J. M. Coetzee, and W. G. Sebald (with whom he is often compared), Cole adds to the literature in his own zeitgeisty fashion." (The Boston Globe)

Reviewer: Stephen M. Fragale
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Gliding Along Slowly Down Calm Dark Waters
Review: I loved this book on so many levels and the only thing that I think is odd and in some cases probably added to a few not so great reviews is that this is marketed as Fiction but this doesn't really feel at all like fiction. Having also read Cole's essays I find the tone very similar although I think I enjoyed this more than his essays as there is a personal level here and an intimacy that is not as clear in the essays.I greatly admire the subtle minimalist tone that Cole uses, yet the small chapters and short poetic sentences hold an emotional charge. Like when he is describing the estranged relationship with his mother or the violence of an angry mob! Also love the photography that is carefully interspersed throughout the book usually at the end of a chapter. Often I find books that do that distracting or at least underwhelming but works great here. I think the book is dispersed with many profound moments and the writing feels like we're gliding along slowly down calm dark waters. If nothing else this book has given me a small taste of life in Nigeria. Perhaps a bit tainted but nevertheless one man's authentic view. It's not impossible to go home again, but its often not easy.

Reviewer: Miceala Shocklee
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A Good Skim
Review: 'Every Day Is for the Thief' is not so much a book as a collection of memory. This is not meant as a disparaging comment, but merely a descriptive one. The story within is not bound so much by a narrative arc as by the desire of someone to tell you about their trip home, their vacation abroad, their experience going and finding what it was they were once what vestiges remain in themselves of what they are no longer.The language is alternatingly sinuous and simple. Some passages I skimmed, and others I paused to underline. The overall piece I would call both an art and an effort, in what it feels like to read.It's a short piece, one that I was able to consume in the span of two forty-minute bus rides. The quick digestibility of the writing is what bumped up my star rating to a 4 from what would have otherwise been a more solid three. If the memoir were longer, ot would require some more structural polishing to earn the same star rating from me.So, to sum - enjoyable, insightful, and at times grabbing, but not entirely engrossing or particularly earth-shaking. Worth a read if you're curious, for the time it will take.

Reviewer: david treppendahl
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Might be a good book - should I ever finish it.
Review: It was a good read up to the point when I put it down several months ago and have not chosen to pick it up again.

Reviewer: H. Schneider
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Recover the impossible?
Review: Why visit Lagos? Maybe there are a million untold stories, but the writer finds it impossible to hear himself think. The noise. The exhaustion.The author is a Nigerian medical doctor, training for shrinkdom in New York.His narrator is seemingly the same man, but there is a trap. We are tricked into believing that this is a travel book. It is, but it is also fiction. Or is it? Hard to say.Narrator travels to Nigeria for the first time since 15 years. We are not immediately told why he makes the trip. We assume curiosity mixed with nostalgia. In fact, we are never given one specific reason, we are left conjecturing.The dominating theme in the first chapters is money and lubrication. We see petty corruption: by diplomats in the Nigerian Consulate in New York, by officials in Lagos airport, by cops and toll booth operators on Lagos streets....the border lines between asking for bribes, or for ransom money, or for tips, or 'simply' begging are hazy. And then the Nigerian specialty: advance fee fraud, the profession of the yahoo yahoos, a very special class of yuppis.Another dominating theme is violence: armed robberies, muggings, lynchings, road rage, accidents, the permanent noise.... The book is surely not a candidate for Lagos tourism promotion awards.And: lost relationships. Can they be recovered? Should they?We are told in lean, efficient language, how the hero gradually adjusts his memories and perceptions to the new realities. One always needs time to see what is in front of us, rather than what is in our head. A broadening of the concept of optical illusions.Reflections on writing are a part of the journey. Ondaatje, Vikram Seth, García Marquez are named as potential role models, but Cole is no imitator.I feel that I am a little too generous with five stars, but what the heck. That's what stars are for. I should deduct a star for the slightly devious marketing, which offered this as a new book by the author of Open City, a great New York novel. This Thief is actually an older work, re-published with new photos.

Reviewer: Scott
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: what I found to be a real strength of this book is how the author is both totally realistic about all the bad things in Lagos an
Review: As some of the other reviewers have noted, this book is more a series of short vignettes or observations than it is a fully developed novel. Having been to Lagos 7 or 8 times, after the first few chapters I found myself sort of agreeing with one reviewer who wrote something to the effect that anyone who has been to Africa will not learn much from this book. As the book progressed, though, my thoughts on this completely changed. Yes, many of the scenes described will be familiar to anyone who has visited Lagos. But some of them certainly won't be and the grand collection of all of them is quite enlightening. In particular, what I found to be a real strength of this book is how the author is both totally realistic about all the bad things in Lagos and does not sugar coat them in any way, yet he is also quite sensitive and open to many of the positive things in Lagos that give the city such incredible energy and buzz. In short, Cole is neither a Lagos hater nor a Lagos travel booster but instead succeeds admirably in painting a series of pictures that collectively bring one of the world's most electrifying cities into better focus.

Reviewer: Folorunso Daniel
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Good

Reviewer: Linda Temienor-Vincent
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Teju has eyes for details. His incredible talent for keeping a story lean yet detailed is unmatched. This is the kind of book I wish I authored.Brilliant. Funny. Important.

Reviewer: Signed, Iza
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Every Day Is For The Thief" is about an unnamed character or the author himself, who goes back to his native Nigeria and discovers how much it has changed since he has been gone.⁣⁣Teju Cole expertly discusses some of the complex issues Nigerians faces such:⁣Bribery and Corruption, ⁣Lack Of Steady Power supply, ⁣Internet Fraud,⁣Superstition,⁣Fatalism, ⁣Jungle Justice....it reflects the experience of living in Lagos. ⁣While this book was published in 2007, nothing has changed though in regards to these issues, sad to say.⁣⁣It has a travelogue feel to it and contains black and white photographs by the author. Although few are slightly blurred or grainy. I still loved it.⁣⁣As a Nigerian-American who's been away too long, detached and kinda see it as an outsider, i felt he was being too critical and judgemental. And just whining. Still, i pretty much enjoyed reading it. Made me Laugh Out Loud.⁣But, do note:⁣⁣1. With more than 520 spoken languages and its vibrant culture, sense of humor and adaptability, Nigeria has become the "Giant of Africa" in more ways than just population size.⁣⁣2. Nigerians are indisputable, serving up our "advanced level" jollof rice😛.⁣Oya, come chop!⁣⁣3. Weddings are a sacred part of cultural life, but also a fun excuse to show off our cuisine, fabulous clothing, music and dance moves. ⁣⁣4. Our film industry is big business -- so big it contributes 5% to national GDP.⁣⁣5.Nigerians are still among the most optimistic and happy people on the planet. An average Nigerian is a lively person, always smiling in the midst of all the troubles and struggles. ⁣

Reviewer: Arun Menon
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: A sad or let's say an eye opener story told in a skillful and elegant manner. Had kept it real. Worth the time put in . Love the descriptive narrative style.

Reviewer: Zoltan Pinter
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: One of the greatest "new" discoveries of 2015 for me. Previously, I have seen Teju Coles debut Open City but never really got into checking it out. I came across Cole's new book Every Day Is For The Thief, and I was fascinated by it immediately. I'm really glad I read this book, and Open City is waiting to be read soon already.