Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight

Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight

An African Childhood

    • 4.2 • 259 Ratings
    • $12.99
    • $12.99

Publisher Description

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A worthy heir to Isak Dinesen and Beryl Markham, Alexandra Fuller shares visceral memories of her childhood in Africa, and of her headstrong, unforgettable mother.

“This is not a book you read just once, but a tale of terrible beauty to get lost in over and over.”—Newsweek

“By turns mischievous and openhearted, earthy and soaring . . . hair-raising, horrific, and thrilling.”—The New Yorker

Though it is a diary of an unruly life in an often inhospitable place, Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight is suffused with Fuller’s endearing ability to find laughter, even when there is little to celebrate. Fuller’s debut is unsentimental and unflinching but always captivating. In wry and sometimes hilarious prose, she stares down disaster and looks back with rage and love at the life of an extraordinary family in an extraordinary time.

From 1972 to 1990, Alexandra Fuller—known to friends and family as Bobo—grew up on several farms in southern and central Africa. Her father joined up on the side of the white government in the Rhodesian civil war, and was often away fighting against the powerful black guerilla factions. Her mother, in turn, flung herself at their African life and its rugged farm work with the same passion and maniacal energy she brought to everything else. Though she loved her children, she was no hand-holder and had little tolerance for neediness. She nurtured her daughters in other ways: She taught them, by example, to be resilient and self-sufficient, to have strong wills and strong opinions, and to embrace life wholeheartedly, despite and because of difficult circumstances. And she instilled in Bobo, particularly, a love of reading and of storytelling that proved to be her salvation.

Alexandra Fuller writes poignantly about a girl becoming a woman and a writer against a backdrop of unrest, not just in her country but in her home. But Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight is more than a survivor’s story. It is the story of one woman’s unbreakable bond with a continent and the people who inhabit it, a portrait lovingly realized and deeply felt.

Praise for Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight

“Riveting . . . [full of] humor and compassion.”O: The Oprah Magazine
 
“The incredible story of an incredible childhood.”The Providence Journal

GENRE
Biographies & Memoirs
RELEASED
2001
December 18
LANGUAGE
EN
English
LENGTH
320
Pages
PUBLISHER
Random House Publishing Group
SELLER
Penguin Random House LLC
SIZE
4.2
MB

Customer Reviews

nicolashj ,

A palatable post-colonial memoir, peppered with humour, heart, and a heuristic nostalgia.

Alexandra Fuller artfully articulates her memoir with poise, humour, and honesty, as she examines all that she is and all her family was. Set against the backdrop of the fragile sunset of the British Empire, Fuller’s recollection of the injustices of politics-of-place and time, of the pivotal moments in her youth, and the nature of relationships, is truly a story woven in a way that you can smell, taste, and feel. This is the story of one family’s journey that immerses & invests the reader. As we navigate the minefields of memory with Fuller, we see a wider story unfolding — as she comes of age, so too a weighing imperialistic mentality succumbs to its wounds and age; we witness these colourful characters through trial, triumph, and tragedy as their world is changed in such a profound way. Fuller’s humour, honesty, and palette of prose results in not only a great story, but a real modern rendition of an Out-of-Africanesque classic. On its cover, it’s a singular story, but at its core it is a story we can all relate to: who we are is rooted in where we come from, where we choose to go is effected by what we carry with us, and while we may be radically different on the outside, we are at our core, all part of a wider saga.

lthoma2 ,

No Karen Blitsen

Disappointing & slow.

davidsumnernyc ,

A Journey Home

A beautiful heart-felt love letter to her family and Africa, both the center of Fuller’s soul. And that alone would recommend this book, but read more slowly, a pain and sadness begins to percolate up from the cracks exploding, at times, with the searing truth. that War and abuse -one in the same- scar deep.

I suppose that books resonate for many reasons, but in this case, Fuller’s childhood filled with unbridled love for her home amidst chaos, land mines, insanity, war, and death seems eerily similar to any childhood filled with emotional land mines. For many, her words will resonate.

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