About this title: Raised in Rhodesia during the Rhodesian War (1971-1979), this memoirist expresses the violence of African politics and the African landscape from her perspective as a white citizen born in England. Insects, landmines, leopards, and terrorists imprint this coming-of-age story. A New York Times Notable Book of 2002.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Random House
Date Published: 2002
Description: Good in Not Issued jacket. Solid copy. Spine is creased. Cover is creased and has shelfwear. Back cover has a tear. Some pages are dogeared. read more
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Random House Inc, Westminster, Maryland, U.S.A.
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9780375758997ISBN:0375758992
Description: Fair. Remainder Front cover creased. Small tear on the cover at the top of the spine. Light staining on the page edges. Not affecting text. Sticker on the spine. read more
Description: Good. This book has medium cover wear, light spine tilt, light creases on covers. I will ship this book out on the next business day! Each book individually hand cleaned. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9780375758997ISBN:0375758992
Description: Good. A copy that has been read, but remains in clean condition. All pages are intact, and the cover is intact (including dustcover, if applicable). The spine may show signs of wear. Pages can include limited notes and highlighting, and the copy can include "from the library of" labels. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Random House
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9780375507502ISBN:0375507507
Description: Good in Good jacket. First Edition. 20-U Ex-library. Books rated "Good" may have some notes, underlining, or highlighting. These books also may contain the previous owner's name, stamp, sticker, or gift inscription, or may be library discards. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ISBN-13:9780375758997ISBN:0375758992
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Fair. Purchasing this DVD supports the North Central Regional Library. Thriftbooks and NCRL have partnered to help raise additional funds for the library system. Library ID found on DVD and case. Ex-Library book-will contain library markings. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ISBN-13:9780375758997ISBN:0375758992
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ISBN-13:9780375758997ISBN:0375758992
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ISBN-13:9780375758997ISBN:0375758992
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ISBN-13:9780375758997ISBN:0375758992
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ISBN-13:9780375758997ISBN:0375758992
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ISBN-13:9780375758997ISBN:0375758992
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ISBN-13:9780375758997ISBN:0375758992
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
"Still do not know how I feel about this book . . . The author seems to have taken a juvenile voice, and considering the fact that it is a memoir of her childhood (and she's only 40 now), I suppose that's fair, but it is frustrating at the same time. The racism of ignorant youth is only slightly more tolerable than the blatant racism of an educated adult. (Especially since she's spoken out in interviews about how racist Americans *all* are (even if they try to hide it), so she clearly understands what racism is, right?)
Maybe the fact is that there are such huge issues at the heart of this novel (colonialization, war, racism, alcoholism, mental illness . . .) that no one so close to them all could figure it all out, and the best anyone can do is open up and let it all spill out.
Three stars: If it were just a "list of things to ponder," I'd give it four or five stars. It made me think about a lot of things I'd never considered, and didn't give any easy outs. If the author didn't have such crazy stuff to write about, her writing would probably only hold my interest for about seven pages. One star: superiority, entitlement, racism, pride, arrogance, etc.
Man. I've changed my review about seven times. I should have waited until I knew what I was feeling. Man, it's got me all agitated. I'll give it that."
"I read Fuller's book on the heals of Ishmael Beah's, A Long Way Gone, and what a juxtaposition. While her life would seem absolutely pampered in contrast to Beah's harrowing tale of being forced to be a child soldier, she did not have an easy life. Fuller's writing is truly told from the perspective of a child growing up in a country that her parents chose to live in because, "They just wanted to live in an African country in which white people were still in charge." When Rhodesia became Zimbabwe they stayed (Back when there was so much hope for Zimbabwe's first president, Robt. Mugabe), but eventually moved to Malawi, and finally to Zambia, never being financially successful, but able to cobble together a living. Alexandra's parents are hard drinkers & smokers as much as they are hard workers. And while the racist views of her parents seems schockingly un-politically correct, they are the ones to give medical care to anyone coming to their door, & to search out the criminal who slashes their maid. The maid is kept alive & nursed back to health by the same mother who made the above statement. Africa comes to life in all of its heat-filled glory, with poisonous plants a plenty, and superstitions & customs that are as mysterious to the Fullers as the Fullers are to the native Africans. As an adult Alexandra is fully aware of the disparity between her "privileged" life and her African friends and servants, and I respect that she told her story as she knew it as a child. She didn't change things to make them politically sensitive, and therefore, she gives the reader an insight into what it was like to be a poor white farmer in south central Africa."
"I usually have a hard time liking memoir; often I find them to be sad plugs for a huge pity party w/ the guest-of-honor, the author, mulling over what happened in their frustrating and tragic past. Further I find myself fighting the question of whether the book is more an autobiography or more accurately the author's faulty memory of events (esp of childhood) and all the "fiction" that inevitably fills in the gaps; it's a little too much like reading a diary or eavesdropping on someone's therapy sessions. However, Alexandra Fuller does as good a job w/ these handicaps as possible; she honestly and clearly tells the story of growing up in Africa as a farmer (and most often a renter at that), which is a fascinating perspective. Although undoubtably racist, her parents and their friends were very liberal in effect: the girls were raised with a gentle-to-absent hand, they offered free health-care on-site, they didn't force religion on their help, they treated laws as mere suggestions, they fiecely loved animals, they partied desperately, they were well-read - I was convinced they were first and foremost about living life to the fullest. A fascinating read; if you are going to error on the side of memoir, chose this book to do it!"
"After living in more African countries than any other white family in African history, the Fuller family never seemed to change their view of Africans. The book is a memoir of the daughter's upbringing in Rhodesia, but also Malawi, Zambia, and I'm probably forgetting a country or two. They aren't the rich colonial types, though they act like it (blacks are inferior, the usual stuff) and I was struck by their stubborn drive to maintain a life in Africa when by all accounts, this book being one of them, they were pretty miserable and suffered a number of tragedies close to home. The book is superbly written, at times beautiful, at times too so full of detail I doubted that the little girl in the book could actually remember what the wind felt like on a certain day or the color of the sky at a certain sunset. These kinds of stretches of the imagination don't hurt the driving force of the book, composed in kind of vignettes and spots of memory over the years up until the author's marriage."
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