{"product_id":"a-kind-of-madness-isbn-9781959030386","title":"A Kind of Madness","description":"\u003cb\u003eFinalist for NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Debut\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFinalist for Caine Prize For African Writing\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAn Oprah Daily Most Anticipated Book of 2024\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Steady-handed and gut-punching. I’m in awe.”―NoViolet Bulawayo\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn ten vivid, evocative stories set in contemporary Nigeria, Uche Okonkwo’s extraordinary debut asks: why are the people and places we hold closest so often the ones that drive us to madness?\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA teenage girl from a poor family is dazzled by her rich, vivacious friend, but as the friend’s behavior grows unstable and dangerous, she must decide whether to cover for her or risk telling the truth to get her the help she needs. A young woman and her mother bask in the envy of their neighbors when the woman receives an offer of marriage from the family of a doctor living in Belgium—though when the offer fails to materialize, that envy threatens to turn vicious, pitting them both against their community. And a lonely daughter finds herself wandering a village in eastern Nigeria in an ill-fated quest, struggling to come to terms with her mother’s mental illness.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAcross ten stories, Uche Okonkwo’s \u003ci\u003eA Kind of Madness\u003c\/i\u003e unravels the tensions between mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, best friends, siblings, and more, marking the arrival of an extraordinary new talent in fiction.“A masterclass in the form . . . one of the most accessible yet profound collections of 2025.”—FUNTIMES \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"This debut short-story collection features 10 stories set in present-day Nigeria, all concerned with madness—both the literal madness of mental illness as well as the unruliness of outsize emotions like envy, shame, and desire.\"—Oprah Daily, A Most Anticipated Book of 2024\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOkonkwo has a Chekhovian eye for the tangle of internal motivations and assumptions that steer her characters. . . .Readers will be eager for more of Okonkwo’s artful writing.—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOkonkwo brings a sharply ironic clarity to narrating her characters that remind me of Annie in Jamaica Kincaid’s \u003ci\u003eAnnie John\u003c\/i\u003e. It’s that piercing gaze of youthful innocence as it watches its personal world collapsing around it. This is a book to cherish. —Electric Literature\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSurprising, illuminating, and deeply human.—Booklist\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eVivid. . . . In addition to striking a perfect balance between humor and heartbreak, \u003ci\u003eA Kind of Madness\u003c\/i\u003e shows incredible wiseness on the complexity and at times maddening nature of loving our family, our friends, and our home. —Chicago Review of Books, A Best Book of April\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAmazingly written characters in unforgettable settings. Okonkwo’s writing is transformative. —Debutiful, A Best Book of April\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOkonkwo’s writing is both lyrical and direct, capturing the nuances of emotion with honesty and compassion. \u003ci\u003eA Kind of Madness\u003c\/i\u003e invites us to confront our own biases, question societal norms, and ultimately recognize our humanity. —One Story\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eVivid, evocative. . . . marking the arrival of an extraordinary new talent in fiction.—Write or Die, A Most Anticipated Book of Summer\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eProfound, revelatory. . . . In delicately chiseled prose, she successfully reveals the intricate contours of humanity and the Nigerian life. . . .gorgeously absorbing.—Republic\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA suspenseful and clever collection of stories that touches on the isolation, absurdities, and dilemmas of contemporary social life.—BookBrowse\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTender yet devastating.—West Trade Review\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePowerful . . . Okonkwo writes with warmth, humor, and a light touch that makes even heavy themes easy to digest.—Brittle Paper\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBurrows into the complex relationships between ordinary people.—Open Country Mag, A Best Book of 2024\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSteady-handed and gut-punching. I’m in awe of this mad collection, this necessary writer.—NoViolet Bulawayo, author of Glory\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHilarious and heartbreaking. . . . A delightful debut.—Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, author of A Girl is a Body of Water\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eUche Okonkwo's voice is absorbing. I was immersed in the familiar world of these tender, playfully haunting, darkly funny stories. Okonkwo is a writer to watch.—Chinelo Okparanta, author of Harry Sylvester Bird\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTouched my heart. Uche Okonkwo’s stories are among the very best.—Sidik Fofana, author of Stories from the Tenants Downstairs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTo read Uche Okonkwo’s \u003ci\u003eA Kind of Madness\u003c\/i\u003e is to have an experience: of complex characters grappling with life’s many troubles, of a robust culture, of history, of the battle between the domestic and the public, and all the big themes of life woven together. Like Jhumpa Lahiri, Okonkwo’s mastery of the form is as rich as some of the short story’s best practitioners and deserves every recognition it is sure to get. —Chigozie Obioma, author of An Orchestra of Minorities\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eUche Okonkwo's \u003ci\u003eA Kind of Madness\u003c\/i\u003e is full of vivid, unforgettable characters and rare insight. This is a book that pulls you in, with its fierce undertow, and once you start reading, you won't want to stop. Okonkwo is one of the most exciting young writers working today, and these stories are brilliant. —Elliott Holt, author of You Are One of Them\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eUche Okonkwo’s stories, set in contemporary Nigeria, have a gentle allure, drawing us into the intimate lives of characters and their worlds with elegant, assured prose and a deep understanding of the complex machinations of human manners and sentiment. A striking debut!—Kwame Dawes, author of Sturge Town\u003cb\u003eUche Okonkwo\u003c\/b\u003e’s stories have been published in \u003ci\u003eA Public Space\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eOne Story\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003ethe Kenyon Review\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003ePloughshares\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Best American Nonrequired Reading 2019\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eLagos Noir\u003c\/i\u003e, among others. A former Bernard O’Keefe Scholar at Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference and resident at Art Omi, she is a recipient of the George Bennett Fellowship at Phillips Exeter Academy, a Steinbeck Fellowship, and an Elizabeth George Foundation grant. Okonkwo grew up in Lagos, Nigeria, and is currently pursuing a creative writing PhD at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.","brand":"Tin House","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48232888697061,"sku":"NP9781959030386","price":16.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781959030386.jpg?v=1767720576","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/a-kind-of-madness-isbn-9781959030386","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}