Ake: The Years of Childhood (Vintage International) - Softcover

"A lovely, magical book." --The Washington Post

"A brilliant imagist who uses poetry and drama to convey his inquisitiveness, frustration, and sense of wonder." --Newsweek

Brilliant. . . . Transcendant. . . . It locates the lost child in all of us, underneath language, inside sound and smell, wide-eyed, brave and flummoxed. . . . Soyinka belongs in the company of . . . V. S. Naipaul, V. S. Pritchett, and Vladimir Nabokov." --The New York Times

"A delightful memoir." --The Atlantic

"Unquestionably Africa's most versatile writer and arguably her finest. . . . Ake is a classic of African autobiography, indeed a classic of childhood memoirs wherever and whenever produced." --The New York Times Book Review

The Nigerian playwrite, poet, and novelist recounts his first eleven years growing up under the influence of his parents, traditional Yoruba customs, and Christian missionaries