{"product_id":"walking-on-cowrie-shells-stories-9781644450543","title":"Walking on Cowrie Shells: Stories","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA \"boisterous and high-spirited debut\" (\u003ci\u003eKirkus\u003c\/i\u003e starred review)\"that enthralls the reader through their every twist and turn\" (\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e starred review), named one of the Most Anticipated Books for Brittle Paper, The Millions, and The Rumpus, penned by a finalist for the AKO Caine Prize\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn her powerful, genre-bending debut story collection, Nana Nkweti's virtuosity is on full display as she mixes deft realism with clever inversions of genre. In the Caine Prize finalist story \"It Takes a Village, Some Say,\" Nkweti skewers racial prejudice and the practice of international adoption, delivering a sly tale about a teenage girl who leverages her adoptive parents to fast-track her fortunes. In \"The Devil Is a Liar,\" a pregnant pastor's wife struggles with the collision of western Christianity and her mother's traditional Cameroonian belief system as she worries about her unborn child. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn other stories, Nkweti vaults past realism, upending genre expectations in a satirical romp about a jaded PR professional trying to spin a zombie outbreak in West Africa, and in a mermaid tale about a Mami Wata who forgoes her power by remaining faithful to a fisherman she loves. In between these two ends of the spectrum there's everything from an aspiring graphic novelist at a comic con to a murder investigation driven by statistics to a story organized by the changing hairstyles of the main character. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003ePulling from mystery, horror, realism, myth, and graphic novels, Nkweti showcases the complexity and vibrance of characters whose lives span Cameroonian and American cultures. A dazzling, inventive debut, \u003ci\u003eWalking on Cowrie Shells \u003c\/i\u003eannounces the arrival of a superlative new voice.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Graywolf Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/01\/2021\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781644450543\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 176\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.55lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.20h x 5.50w x 0.70d","brand":"Nana Nkweti","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":40040738783413,"sku":"9781644450543","price":13.6,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_1fda5b9f-a8b5-4569-b970-235e83c7f83e.jpg?v=1621344249","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/walking-on-cowrie-shells-stories-9781644450543","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}