Review: Every Day Is For The Thief
Teju Cole has created a beautiful, low key, memoir of a visit to his home country of Nigeria. Each chapter is a short vignette capturing a facet of himself or Nigeria, or both.
Cole write clearly, beautifully and almost hypnotically. Each chapter captures a moment or a day in his time there cleanly and clearly without unnecessary fireworks. The overall feeling is that you have joined Cole on his trip invisibly and intimately.
He speaks of his concern for the country’s corruption and shallowness, but the condemnation is not one of an angry activist. His goal seems to be illumination, not rallying. The result is a powerful view that leaves the reader more interpretive space than I expected.
Recommended.