An Ordinary Man: An Autobiography [Hardcover]

Paul Rusesabagina (Author), Tom Zoellner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 6, 2006

The riveting life story of Paul Rusesabagina-the man whose heroism inspired the film Hotel Rwanda

As his country was being torn apart by violence during the Rwandan genocide of 1994, hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina-the "Oskar Schindler of Africa"-refused to bow to the madness that surrounded him. Confronting killers with a combination of diplomacy, flattery, and deception, he offered shelter to more than twelve thousand members of the Tutsi clan and Hutu moderates, while homicidal mobs raged outside with machetes.

An Ordinary Man explores what the Academy Award-nominated film Hotel Rwanda could not: the inner life of the man who became one of the most prominent public faces of that terrible conflict. Rusesabagina tells for the first time the full story of his life-growing up as the son of a rural farmer, the child of a mixed marriage, his extraordinary career path which led him to become the first Rwandan manager of the Belgian-owned Hotel Milles Collines-all of which contributed to his heroic actions in the face of such horror. He will also bring the reader inside the hotel for those one hundred terrible days depicted in the film, relating the anguish of those who watched as their loved ones were hacked to pieces and the betrayal that he felt as a result of the UN's refusal to help at this time of crisis.

Including never-before-reported details of the Rwandan genocide, An Ordinary Man is sure to become a classic of tolerance literature, joining such books as Thomas Keneally's Schindler's List, Nelson Mandela's Long Walk to Freedom, and Elie Wiesel's Night. Paul Rusesabagina's autobiography is the story of one man who did not let fear get the better of him-a man who found within himself a vast reserve of courage and bravery, and showed the world how one "ordinary man" can become a hero.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. For former hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina, words are the most powerful weapon in the human arsenal. For good and for evil, as was the case in the spring of 1994 in Rwanda. Over 100 days, some 800,000 people were slaughtered, most hacked to death by machete. Rusesabagina—inspiration for the movie Hotel Rwanda—used his facility with words and persuasion to save 1,268 of his fellow countrymen, turning the Belgian luxury hotel under his charge into a sanctuary from madness. Through negotiation, favor, flattery and deception, Rusesabagina managed to keep his "guests" alive another day despite the homicidal gangs just beyond the fence and the world's failure to act. Narrator Hoffman delivers those words in a stirring audio performance. With a crisp African accent, Hoffman renders each sentence with heartfelt conviction and flat-out becomes Rusesabagina. The humble hotel manager not only illuminates the machinery behind the genocide but delves into Rwanda's complex and colorful cultural history as well as his own childhood, the son of a Hutu father and Tutsi mother. Hoffman successfully draws out the understated elegance of Rusesabagina's simple and straightforward prose, lending the story added vividness. This tale of good, evil and moral responsibility winds down with Rusesabagina visiting a church outside Kigali where thousands were massacred and where a multilingual sign-cloth now pledges, "Never Again." He once more stops to consider words, the ones he worries lack true conviction—like those at the church—as well as the ones with the power to heal. For the listener, the words of Paul Rusesabagina won't soon be forgotten.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Review

Rusesabagina . . . weaves his country’s history with his personal history into a rich narrative that attempts to explain the unexplainable. . . . The book’s emotional power comes from his understatement and humility. (The Boston Globe)

An extraordinary cautionary tale. (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Rusesabagina’s story of survival amid manic slaughter is as awful as it is gripping. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

Read this book. It will humble and inspire you. (Sunday Telegraph, London)

Extraordinary—horrific and tragic, but also inspiring, because Rusesabagina refuses to give up his belief in the basic decency of humanity. (The Times, London) --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 207 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult; First Edition edition (April 6, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670037524
• ISBN-13: 978-0670037520
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #601,804 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #83 in Books > History > Africa > Rwanda

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A COURAGEOUS MAN'S STORY SUPERBLY READ, April 15, 2006

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: An Ordinary Man: An Autobiography (Audio CD)

Paul Rusesabagina, the inspiration for the Oscar nominated film, Hotel Rwanda, is not an ordinary man but an extraordinary one. He is the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the National Civil rRghts Museum's 2005 Freedom Award - rightly so. During the 1994 bloodbath in Rwanda that resulted in the slaughter of some 800,000 people, he sheltered over 1,200 in the luxury hotel that he managed.

It all began with the shooting down of a plane carrying the Rwandan and Burundian presidents. Utter madness almost immediately ensued. When Rusesabagina turned to U.N. representatives for assistance their response was all but ludicrous.

How he managed to endure some 100 days of utter devastation and at the same time save the lives of others is a tale of heroic proportions. Here, in An Ordinary Man we're able to hear his story in his own words for the first time. He is candid about the details of that dreadful 100 days, as well as his personal views of actions that might have been taken by international peacekeepers.

Voice performer Dominic Hoffman offers a riveting narrative of an this courageous man's story during this nightmarish time in world history.

- Gail Cooke

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Extraordinary Man, April 17, 2006

By 

Lynn M. Griesemer (Fairfax, VA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: An Ordinary Man: An Autobiography (Hardcover)

Well written, provocative and emotionally captivating. "An Ordinary Man" should be required reading for everyone, especially young adults - our future generation. I had the pleasure of meeting Paul Rusesbagina when he spoke at a local college on April 10th to a crowd of over 1000. He is humble, bright and compassionate. He escaped death at least half a dozen times during the spring of 1994. I can only wonder if God's plan was not only for him to save 1268 lives, but to bring the whole issue of genocide to the forefront of the minds of the hundreds of thousands who will read this book.

I bought his book on the spot and have been consumed by it for the past week. I've stayed up late; I began researching genocide and I've been lost in deep thought and prayer for those who were murdered and those who are being murdered by genocide as you read this. I plan on reading it again, more slowly in a few months in order to digest all of his ideas, opinions and suggestions.

History was presented to me in a boring manner in high school, but the movie "Hotel Rwanda" and now this book, have caused me to stop what I am doing and take a good hard look at the whole issue of genocide.

Not only genocide, but I can see how the power elite (high level politicians in our country) try to build a case with rhetoric and faulty arguments to get Americans to unknowingly agree with some ludicrous and dangerous beliefs, such as support for the current war in Iraq and possible aggression toward Iran.

In 1994, I remember listening to radio commentary that suggested that the US stay out of Rwanda's affairs and I agreed because that's the case that was built and that's what I heard on the radio. Now I know differently. Imagine if the US stayed out of the affairs of the Nazi holocaust - would there be 6 million more deaths in the 1940's? Because of this book, I have a renewed interest in history. And please, media, don't let me hear you say "ethnic cleansing." The term is genocide.

As far as I'm concerned, Paul Rusesabagina is on the level of Mother Teresa and has a lot in common with her - an ordinary man who was just doing what he could, using peaceful means. And today, Paul heads a foundation that helps the displaced orphans (500,000+).

Read this book as soon as you can and take heed - genocide is something that is ongoing in the Congo and Sudan, and may erupt again in the near future, if not in Rwanda, then somewhere else.

29 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Should be required reading for everyone, April 8, 2006

By 

K. B. Brown "Renaissance woman" (Sierra Madre, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: An Ordinary Man: An Autobiography (Hardcover)

I heard Mr. Rusesabagina speak on April 4th at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and was fortunate enough to buy an autographed copy of the book. The writing is amazingly beautiful, and every page is filled with ideas that, if followed, will make us all better people. I'm on chapter two at the moment and preparing for the grisly details to come... but am astonished at the hope and spirituality evident even in the face of such ugliness. Paul Rusesabagina is a saint for modern times, and I would recommend not waiting for the paperback edition of this book.... it is destined to become a classic.