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A review by mweis
Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor
3.5
*I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*
I am forever amazed by Nnedi Okorafor's imagination and ability to cross genres. Death of the Author is at its core, a literary novel about the Nigerian American experience. Zelu, the main character, is American and while both of her parents are Nigerian immigrants, one is Igbo and the other is Yoruba. Zelu is also paraplegic, becoming paralyzed after an incident when she was 12, and she is an author struggling to get her book published. In a lot of ways, I think Okorafor's ability to create depth in Zelu was due to her own experiences as a disabled Nigerian American author.
The inciting incident of the story is Zelu getting fired from her teaching position. Post-firing, she writes a science fiction novel that goes viral and Okorafor includes chapters of her famous story throughout the book, which is fascinating because the novel parallels Zelu's story in a really interesting way. I also think that the inclusion of Zelu's novel is what makes this book so genre-defying and it highlights the power of the nature of storytelling and some of the terrors of fame and of the modern publishing.
From a pure craft perspective, I think this book is an easy 4.5 stars, but from a personal enjoyment perspective it was closer to a 3 star experience. That being said, I haven't been able to stop thinking about this book so maybe upon reread it'll become a full 4 star or higher experience.
I am forever amazed by Nnedi Okorafor's imagination and ability to cross genres. Death of the Author is at its core, a literary novel about the Nigerian American experience. Zelu, the main character, is American and while both of her parents are Nigerian immigrants, one is Igbo and the other is Yoruba. Zelu is also paraplegic, becoming paralyzed after an incident when she was 12, and she is an author struggling to get her book published. In a lot of ways, I think Okorafor's ability to create depth in Zelu was due to her own experiences as a disabled Nigerian American author.
The inciting incident of the story is Zelu getting fired from her teaching position. Post-firing, she writes a science fiction novel that goes viral and Okorafor includes chapters of her famous story throughout the book, which is fascinating because the novel parallels Zelu's story in a really interesting way. I also think that the inclusion of Zelu's novel is what makes this book so genre-defying and it highlights the power of the nature of storytelling and some of the terrors of fame and of the modern publishing.
From a pure craft perspective, I think this book is an easy 4.5 stars, but from a personal enjoyment perspective it was closer to a 3 star experience. That being said, I haven't been able to stop thinking about this book so maybe upon reread it'll become a full 4 star or higher experience.