Booker Prize Winner
The Famished Road
by Ben Okri
Summary
Azaro, a spirit-child who has chosen to remain in the world of the living, navigates the dirt roads, rum shops and political turmoil of an unnamed Nigerian city on the cusp of independence. Okri writes in a hypnotic, image-saturated prose that moves easily between the visible world and the spirit realm, drawing on Yoruba cosmology rather than European magical realism. The novel offered a powerful new vocabulary for African fiction in English.
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Historical Context & Significance
At 32, Okri was one of the youngest winners; the book is a landmark of African magical realism.