{"product_id":"yoruba-boy-running-a-novel-isbn-9780063417083","title":"Yoruba Boy Running: A Novel","description":"\u003cp\u003e“A true artist. A brilliant writer. An original thinker.”—Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA captivating biographical novel and fictionalized retelling of African linguist and clergyman Samuel Ajayi Crowther's miraculous journey from slave to liberator.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e“Run, Àjàyí, run!”\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen Malian slave traders invaded the Nigerian town of Òsogùn in the turbulent world of 19th-century West Africa, thirteen-year-old Àjàyí's life is split in two.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBefore, there was his childhood, surrounded by friends and family, watched over by the ancient Yorùbá gods of forest and water, earth and sky.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfter, there was capture, slavery—and eventually release—in a harrowing slave narrative that leaves Àjàyí transfigured, unrecognizable, and now, in the service of a new god, with a new name and a culture different from the one left far behind. Àjàyí becomes Samuel Crowther—missionary, linguist, minister, and eventually abolitionist, driven to negotiate against his own people to end the evil trade in human beings which destroyed his family and transformed his own life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDrawing on the prolific writings of Samuel Ajayi Crowther, novelist and filmmaker Biyi Bándélé creates a many-voiced, kaleidoscopic portrait of an extraordinary man in this powerful work of African literature. From the heart-stopping drama of Àjàyí's last day of freedom to the farcical intrigue of the Òsogùn court; from a meeting with Queen Victoria to consecration as the first African Bishop of the Anglican Church, Samuel Ajayi Crowther’s journey, like all great odysseys, circles back to where he began. By turns witty, moving and revolutionary, Biyi Bándélé's reimagining of Crowther's life is a brilliant tour de force.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003csub\u003eCover artwork Chris Ofili, Blind Leading Blind, 2005 © The artist.\u003c\/sub\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003e\"Just when you think you know all the African slave heroes–those superhumans who were abducted and sold, only to rise above their condition and give back to the societies that sold or enslaved them–you meet Ajayi Crowther. \u003cem\u003eYoruba Boy Running\u003c\/em\u003e, Biyi Bandele’s final gift to world literature, is as important and as riveting as it is generous, raising Ajayi Crowther to a place beside Olaudah Equiano , Frederick Douglass and Phillis Wheatley\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eJennifer Nansubuga Makumbi\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Biyi was a unique, all-responsive talent . . . The more he achieved, the further he aimed\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWole Soyinka\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"I always had huge respect for [Biyi's] prolific, super-talented and fearless creativity\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBernardine Evaristo\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“The sinister aspect of history at the heart of Biyi Bándélé’s \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eYoruba Boy Running\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e is the slave trade, whose malign influence continues into the present as the ‘spiritual scions’ of the novel’s corrupt tribal leaders ‘continue to sell their people to the highest bidder’… Àjàyí, the Yoruba boy of the title, is only one of the many lively characters in this early section, which has the aura of ancestral myth—a potent mix, as Wole Soyinka puts it in his introduction, ‘of the anecdotal, archival and inquisitional.’” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is not just a magnificent saga of one man’s triumph over adversity, it is also an exploration of West African history; of a greedy, rapacious king and his cronies who collude with Europeans in selling their own people and another king who falls victim to gunboat diplomacy… there are so many more layers to this remarkable and original novel with its farce, wit, and lyrical perception of humanity.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eHistorical Novels Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Passionately committed to every venture, Biyi displayed great urgency in all his productivity. He was a beguiling mix of daring and reticence, self-confidence and humility, with bravely ambitious dreams\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMargaret Busby, Guardian (UK)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"[Biyi Bándélé's novels] are rewarding reading, capable of wild surrealism and wit, as well as political engagement, as is all his writing\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eIndependent (UK)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Biyi Bandele was a titan, who did the heavy lifting and laid the foundations many British Nigerian writers \u0026amp; theatre makers walk on\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eInua Ellams\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Bandele, who is without doubt one of Africa's finest creative minds, built an extensive career across various creative spaces, achieving success in literature and film\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBrittle Paper\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Nigerian filmmaker and novelist Bándélé (\u003cem\u003eBurma Boy\u003c\/em\u003e), who died in 2022, provides a fitting capstone to his career with this astonishing novel based on the life of Samuel Àjàyí Crowther.... an unforgettable chronicle of an extraordinary man.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly (starred review)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Harper","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44890721878245,"sku":"NP9780063417083","price":26.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780063417083.jpg?v=1730233932","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/yoruba-boy-running-a-novel-isbn-9780063417083","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}