from Publishers Weekly
Adichie (Half of a Yellow Sun) stays on familiar turf in her deflated first story collection. The tension between Nigerians and Nigerian-Americans, and the question of what it means to be middle-class in each country, feeds most of these dozen stories. Best known are Cell One, and The Headstrong Historian, which have both appeared in the New Yorker and are the collection's finest works. Cell One, in particular, about the appropriation of American ghetto culture by Nigerian university students, is both emotionally and intellectually fulfilling. Most of the other stories in this collection, while brimming with pathos and rich in character, are limited. The expansive canvas of the novel suits Adichie's work best; here, she fixates mostly on romantic relationships. Each story's observations illuminate once; read in succession, they take on a repetitive slice-of-life quality, where assimilation and gender roles become ready stand-ins for what could be more probing work. (June) ( )

Opening Sentence: '…The first time our house was robbed, it was our neighbour Osita who climbed in through the dining room window and stole our TV, our VCR, and the Purple Rain and Thriller videotapes our father had brought back from America…’

A collection of twelve short stories finds Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi reflecting on various aspects of relationships; relationships between family, people and cultures. Each of the stories are either set in Nigeria or America, and all the central characters are Nigerian.

As with most books of short stories - some are better than others. My only criticism is that a couple of the stories just seemed to stop before the end, I didn't get a sense of closure - in fact I didn't even get a sense of a start on them. I was left with a sense of 'what was the point?' Having said that, there is the saying you can't please all of the people all of the time - and for the most part I was pleased. Here are summaries of my some of my favourite stories:

“Cell One” is the first story, and tells of a family in Nigeria whose has a problem son. A want to be rebel he steals and pawns his mother’s solid gold necklaces and hangs out with gangs at local bars. One of these bars is raided by the police and the son is sent to jail. During hissubsequent stint in prison he sees an innocent old man being humiliated by corrupt guards. Outraged for the first time in his life, he challenges the guards and ends up being beaten and sent to Cell One.

In 'A Private Experience,' Chika, a Medical student and an Igbo Christian from Lagos, who is visiting her aunt in a town in the north of Nigeria. While at the market a riot breaks out and she is separated form her sister. A nameless woman leads her to shelter, she is a market trader with five children and also an Hausa Muslim. This rescue is significant because after it is all over Chika will learn that as she and the woman shelter together and talk, Hausa Muslims are hacking down Igbo Christians with machetes, clubbing them with stones.

All in all, the stories are written well, but they deal with 'in your face' topics such as violence, oppression, fear, torture, hope lost and love denied. There were a fewmoments of laughter , but for the most part the characters were not happy. I personally would have liked to have seen a little more optimism, the occasional light in amongst the darkness. ( )

I love this author! This is a great collection of short stories, portraying Nigerian characters in their conflict with Western culture. Adichie has a beautiful fresh and sharp writing style, keeping you interested. Great books for anyone who is an immigrant or is interested in immigrant's issues (and not only)! I loved her 'Purple Hibiscus', and plan to read "Half of a Yellow Sun'. Beautiful writing! ( )

A masterful storyteller. Her descriptions of Africa are very vivid - I could close my eyes and imagine being right there. The sense of deep emotions were present in many stories even though the subject matter differed widely. I loved the sense of bewilderment and misunderstanding she created in some of the stories. A great collection of short stories. I'll be looking for more of her work. ( )