Going Down River Road (African Writers) [Paperback]

Meja Mwangi (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0435901761 | ISBN-13: 978-0435901769 | Publication Date: June 1976

Ben, cashiered as a lieutenant in the army, now works as a building labourer in Nairobi. By the author of "Kill Me Quick" and "Striving for the Wind".

Product Details

• Paperback: 215 pages
• Publisher: Heinemann (Txt) (June 1976)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0435901761
• ISBN-13: 978-0435901769
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 4.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #369,793 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #14 in Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > African > East African

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Karara punch, January 26, 2007

By 

reader_77 (NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Going Down River Road (African Writers) (Paperback)

If you like your fiction raw and gasoline-powerful, Going Down River Road is the book for you. Mwangi's prose is like the home-made brew Karara, liquor of choice for the down and out in the unnamed African city that is the book's setting. From the cockroach-infested rooms on Grogan Road where Ben lives with his secretary-prostitute girlfriend Wini and her son Baby, to the ironically titled under-construction 'Development House' where Ben earns his living as a 'hand', and on to the lowlife-ridden Karara Centre on River Road which Ben and his friend Ocholla frequent in search of Karara and prostitutes, Mwangi maps the landscape of urban poverty in the third world. Going Down River Road delivers an experience that is as unforgettable as it is unrelenting. Very highly recommended, especially for lovers of postcolonial fiction.