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Every Day is for the Thief
Every Day is for the Thief: Fiction | Teju Cole
A young man returns to Nigeria after fifteen years in New York. Like him, his childhood country has grown up quickly: found fast-food restaurants, email cafs, contempt for authority; the all-consuming draw of money for nothing.From the consulate in Manhattan to the dusty streets of Lagos, life in modern Nigeria runs like clockwork - as long as you pay the fee. A bribe for the visa clerk, a 'Christmas gift' at immigration, cash - no receipt - at the unofficial tollbooth. Petrol pumps are rigged to overcharge and internet cafs overflow with career scammers, but the police are too busy doling out bogus fines to care. In a country routinely plundered of its oil and ancient treasures, who is to say who can thieve and who can't?As our narrator makes the difficult journey back to his family house and its memories, he is confronted by the paradox of a country he wants to love, as burdened by its impoverished past as it is blinded by the spoils of the future.
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Smrloomis
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Kindle deal 1.99 USD 🎉 - maybe not everyone‘s cup of tea but I enjoyed this.

48 likes1 stack add
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LitDrivenGirl
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Running a little behind... still super pumped and ready to get this #24in48 accomplished 😎😅.

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Imbookenit
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Yah, at this point Teju Cole has become my new favorite author.

After reading his other two books #opencity and #knownandstrangerthings I this this one is my least favorite.

Cole'd main character heads back to Nigeria for a few months and reflects back on life in Lagos as he was a boy and now.

This story feels like a continuation from Open City only with less philosophical ideas to grapple with.

3.7/5📚#everydayisforthetheif #fiction

4 likes1 stack add
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Smrloomis
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On sale at Amazon 🎉🎉🎉

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GregZimmerman
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Starting. This thief also thinks every day is for him.

Lola I loved this. 8y
16 likes1 comment
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rockpools
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Pickpick

A young man goes back to Lagos to visit, from New York, and experiences the city as neither an outsider or a resident. Bribes, foreboding, change and laughter; and the search for music, books, history and art.

This is an odd little (fiction?) book that reads as a travel memoir of Lagos. Difficult to fit into any genre, and with a beautiful sense of place. I loved it, and look forward to reading Teju Cole's other books.

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rockpools
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christineandbooks This makes me think of Station Eleven... 8y
rockpools @christineandbooks Really? I haven't read it- bit nervous of dystopian stuff usually, but maybe I should give it a go. 8y
christineandbooks It's a very gentle post- apocalyptic story and the idea in your quote is a central theme. Such a good story... 8y
rockpools @christineandbooks Thank you! I'll try it at some point. 8y
20 likes4 comments
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rockpools
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The completeness of a child is the most fragile and most powerful thing in the world.

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Smrloomis
Pickpick

I loved this book, but then I didn't know much about Nigeria. All I knew going in was that it's a large oil producer and that people say the only way to conduct business there is to pay bribes. Knowing so little, I loved this fiction that read more like memoir, but others might have a different reaction.

Cinfhen I tried reading it this summer but I ultimately bailed, it was a library book and other books were calling to me 8y
Smrloomis @Cinfhen I thought it was impressionistic and very focused on place, which I liked. I don't know if I would have felt the same way about it at another time. Not much happened in terms of plot or character development. 8y
Cinfhen I may revisit this one at another time, I'm glad you enjoyed it😊 8y
See All 6 Comments
charl08 I've been, thought it was good. 8y
Smrloomis @charl08 interesting! It felt like he was describing real events, even though I know it's supposed to be fiction. I'm thinking of reading more from him. 8y
charl08 I'm a fan of his, have enjoyed all three books I've read. 8y
69 likes3 stack adds6 comments
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Smrloomis
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Smrloomis
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Looking forward to reading this next.

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becausetrains
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Ok, totally not the kind of thief Cole meant (a proverb from Nigeria) - Sherlock is a stinky little thief (Mustela putorius furo) - but both he and this book are noteworthy and should be checked out 😎 #wndb #Nigeria #BLM #thebookishferrets #DiversityMonday

MrBook 😻😻😻 8y
Megabooks Little cutie! One of my favorite pre-vet stories is the time a ferret crawled up my scrub pants leg and gave me a love bite. 😉😱 8y
becausetrains @Ebooksandcooks aw! They love crawling into places where they don't quite fit, don't they? Sherlock doesn't really nip anymore, except a little bit when he's bored and goes toe hunting 🐻😼 8y
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Rkennedy
Mehso-so

Enjoyed the book at the beginning but really felt it start to drag the last 50 pages or so. Even though it was fiction, felt like I learned something about Lagos that I didn't know before

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amandaplease
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Mehso-so

More of a series of short memoir-like snapshots than a novel. Still a wonderful way to gain glimpses of modern Nigeria, even if you can't travel there any time soon!

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Storyscape
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"And I see with a pang that every good thing I wish for this country, I secretly wish on her behalf. Any prayer I have that the future be a good one, that the place keep from breaking, is for her sake."

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SubwayBookReview
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Emmanuel: "It's by a young Black writer who lives in New York. He goes back to Nigeria after not having been there for a long time and shares his perspective on what it was versus what it is. I was born in Haiti and came to America as a child. Reading this story takes me back to my memories."

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patricknathan
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I don't know why I've owned this for a year without reading it.

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bookminx
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"Lagos is a city of Scheherazades." ? book nine of the readathon!!