{"product_id":"devil-on-the-cross-isbn-9780143107361","title":"Devil on the Cross","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe great Kenyan writer and Nobel Prize nominee’s \u003cb\u003enovel that he wrote in secret, on toilet paper, while in prison—featuring an introduction by Namwali Serpell, the author of the multiple prize–winning novel \u003ci\u003eThe Old Drift\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne of the cornerstones of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s fame, \u003ci\u003eDevil on the Cross \u003c\/i\u003eis a powerful fictional critique of capitalism. It tells the tragic story of Wariinga, a young woman who moves from a rural Kenyan town to the capital, Nairobi, only to be exploited by her boss and later by a corrupt businessman. As she struggles to survive, Wariinga begins to realize that her problems are only symptoms of a larger societal malaise and that much of the misfortune stems from the Western, capitalist influences on her country. An impassioned cry for a Kenya free of dictatorship and for African writers to work in their own local dialects, \u003ci\u003eDevil on the Cross \u003c\/i\u003ehas had a profound influence on Africa and on post-colonial African literature.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.“One of the greatest writers of our time.” —\u003cb\u003eChimamanda Ngozi Adichie, \u003ci\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“His novels . . . have been deservedly canonized by the iconic [Penguin Classics] series.” —\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“One of our century’s great novels.” —\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eTribune\u003c\/i\u003e (UK)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“Ngugi is the most celebrated of African novelists. What he offers is nothing less than a new direction for African writing.” —\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBritish Book News\u003c\/i\u003e  \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“Striking.” —\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“Bold and disquieting and, like most great novels, wonderfully immersive. So immersive, in fact, that I dreamed about it. \u003ci\u003eDevil on the Cross \u003c\/i\u003eargues quite convincingly—so convincingly that, for a moment, I became a character in the novel, or perhaps Ngugi became the author of my life—that all of us are living within a dream. . . . This is not a well-behaved novel, the kind you might read with your book club while discussing character motivation over tea and biscuits. This is a novel that wants you to act. . . . It’s the perennial question: What is the point of literature? . . . I can’t say that Ngugi’s intention was to mount a defense of literature when he wrote this, but I can tell you what this novel did to me. He taught me that it’s time for us to build new dreams.” —\u003cb\u003eTolpe Folarin, \u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003eNgũgĩ wa Thiong’o\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e (1938–2025) was an award-winning novelist, playwright, and essayist from Kenya whose novels have been translated into more than thirty languages. In addition to \u003ci\u003eDevil on the\u003c\/i\u003e Cross, his novels \u003ci\u003eA Grain of Wheat\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003ePetals of Blood\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe River Between\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eWeep Not, Child \u003c\/i\u003eare available from Penguin Classics.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNamwali Serpell\u003c\/b\u003e (introduction) has won the Windham-Campbell Prize, the Caine Prize for African Writing, and the Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award. The author of the novels \u003ci\u003eThe Old Drift \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Furrows\u003c\/i\u003e, she was born in Zambia and now lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she is a professor of English at Harvard.","brand":"Penguin Classics","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46300325773541,"sku":"NP9780143107361","price":17.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780143107361.jpg?v=1767725049","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/devil-on-the-cross-isbn-9780143107361","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}