The Famished Road

A beautiful hardcover Contemporary Classics edition of Nigerian author Ben Okri's 1991 Booker Prize-winning novel, a masterpiece of magical realism narrated by a Yoruba spirit-child. The narrator of The Famished Road is an abiku, a Yoruba spirit-child who exists between life and death, with one foot in each world. Little Azaro is born with a smile on his face, but he knows that he is destined to die and be reborn in an endless cycle. The story he tells is full of contrasts between the land of the living, with its violence and political struggles, and the temptations of the colorful and carefree kingdom of the spirits. But as Azaro's parents are impoverished by their desperate efforts to save him, he begins to fall in love with life and to desire to rebel against his fate. Okri infuses a vivid portrait of post-colonial Nigeria with the rich traditions of Yoruba mythology and the result is a powerfully haunting masterpiece.