Customer Reviews

I Do Not Come to You by Chance

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani is a first time novelist and a citizen of Enugu, Nigeria. She has written a fictional account of Kingsley's life as an educated young man, with new responsibilities for his family after his father's death. He has graduated college with a degree in CHemical Engineering and few prospects for employment, at least none with the oil companies or banks. His Uncle Boniface is the blacksheep of Kingsley's mother's family. He is known locally as "Cash Daddy" as he is a very successful 419er with outrageous displays of wealth. After covering funeral and medical expenses for his uncle (Kingsley's father) he convinces Kinglsey to become his "letter writer." The money starts rolling into Western Union as payments from the U. S. Victims. Tactics become more daring, as Boniface's group actually impersonates government officials and scam millions. The book is in two parts. The first one of Kingsley young life and the second part is his entry into the world of 419. It is very well written and entertaining. As to the hidden details of how 419 plans scams, locates victims, sets up a worldwide network for - little new information is revealed. The book would have been greatly improved by the addition of a glossary. The Nigerian terms are not explained while you are reading. Very enjoyable - and very bold undertaking for the author.

Adoabi Tricia's book gets your attention immediately and keeps it until you are finished with the book.
She paints a picture of life in Nigeria with a loving brush. It is clear that these 419 criminals are human beings, with scruples, religion, ethics, and morality just like their mugus have. The next time you get a spam letter from someone claiming to be the widow of the Chief Chancellor of some remote African country, you might think twice about the person who wrote you that letter. Great book. I hope Miss Nwaubani continues writing; this was a brilliant read.

Adaobi Tricia Nwauban's debut novel is interesting from beginning to end. She paints the Nigerian atmosphere vividly, pulling you into the story. She does such a wonderful job of making the characters come to life you find yourself rooting for them to succeed in their notorious 419 scams. A fascinating look into the highs and lows of the fraud that has proliferated with the advent of modern technology in a country rife with corruption. Entertaining and enlightening, well worth the read.

"I Do Not Come to You by Chance" caught me by surprise. I'd never heard of it and somehow stumbled on it on amazon. The look inside feature sealed the deal.

It is well written, interesting, witty, unusual and very entertaining. I will recommend it to anybody. The plot which was centered around the lifestyle of the Nigerian 419ers (scammers) is unique and refreshing. It is also believable.

Statements such as "My heart leaped twice and somersaulted three times" or "I could hear the smell..." will keep you laughing from beginning to end.

Kudos to the author for great story-telling.

Not By Chance provides a wonderful exposure to Nigerian contemporary life. The author knows her setting (Igbo people and politics in Eastern Nigerian urban towns)and she casts her characters into an intersting tale. Gives the reader a great feel for this fascinating part of Africa. As someone who lived five years in Nigeria, I can enthusiastically recommend this novel.

In the first season of 30 Rock, Tracy Jordan informs his friends: "Yo. Remember that email that we got from those Nigerians that needed our help getting all that money out of Africa? We did it! I got that check today." The Nigerian prince scam has become a cultural touchstone of the continuous globalizing and interconnecting world. Yet beyond "how did they get my email" and "where's the delete button," we rarely think of the people on the other side of the internet committing these "advanced fee scams."

Nwaubani introduces us to this group of scammers (419ers in Nigerian parlance). Kingsley is unable to find work with his college degree and loses his long term girlfriend to a wealthy man. Distraught, Kings follows his uneducated but wealthy uncle into the 419 world in an effort to be wealthy enough to win back his girlfriend But, with the loss of his youthful dreams and more traditional path to success, he becomes divided between the well-off opara (first son head of the family) and the boy who wanted to be an engineer.

The novel is a fantastic 325 page journey into both the world of 419 and a social commentary on traditional values versus modern values versus consumer culture. Unfortunately, the book is 400 pages long and the last 75 are spent with Nwaubani merely tying loose ends in almost mechanical fashion - complete with a Rodney Dangerfield-esque ending.

While it was fun and touched on several meaningful themes. The last 50-75 pages turned me off of the book. It's worth a read, but you're definitely not missing anything great if you chose something else.

When my book club chose this book, I couldn't imagine why I would be interested in reading about Nigerian email scammers. What a surprise to find this book full of insight, wit and brilliant writing. An amazing effort from a first time novelist.

I haven't taken the time to really process what I want to say...I just enjoyed this story so very much. The writing is fresh, intelligent and engaging; the story and concepts are simple but entertaining and thought provoking. I loved Kingsly, what a wonderful protagonist. I loved Cash Daddy, the author drew him so wonderfully full of color.

You need not be a Nigerian or of African descent to enjoy this most remarkable story. You only need to be a lover of good stories to get wrapped up in this book. If you are someone with a curiousity about other countries and cultures, you will be blown away by this authors ability to take you to Nigeria and by the last page feel as though you were born and raised there. I truly loved this book and I hope that it has enormous success here and abroad.

This book inspired a really nice discussion. Most of us never really thought about what the circumstances might be for those who send out those amusing spam emails. Several members had visited or lived in different parts of Africa, and found the portrait of life there very truthful and vivid. I burned through this book in a couple of nights, it was hard to put down. Everybody who read it really enjoyed it. A remarkable achievement for a first novel.

I am a fan of The Number One Ladies Detective Agency books and picked this book up mostly for the view of modern Africa. I was also intrigued by the idea of reading about the Nigerian scammers who trick people into giving them money via email.

I found this book surprisingly engaging and really loved the look into Nigerian culture. The things the author chose to explain, and what she considered normal and obvious enough that she needn't explain, gave me as much insight into their culture as the things she actually said.

I thought the characters were easy to like, complex, and interesting. I did feel that it started stronger than it ended, though, and I felt disappointed by the ending. It lacked soul, somehow, and felt too cynical to me personally.

I'd say as a novel this gets three stars, and as a look into Nigerian culture, 4.5 stars. I found it engaging and interesting through most of it but began losing interest towards the end, and she didn't regain my trust and interest with her ending. Overall, a decent read for those interested in other cultures, but not one I'd jump up and down and push on friends. It was just pretty good.