Long Train to the Redeeming Sin: Stories About African Women (Paperback)

~ Kola Boof (Author) "Once upon a time...and this is true...there lived in the ancient Cushite Empire, a very wealthy architect who dabbled in ivory tusk trading and was..." (more)
Key Phrases: Omar Aberjan, Miss Lindy, Angela Bassett (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Alluring...earthy...angry...and impressionistic!"--Julie Solomon -- THE NEW YORK TIMES--November 2002

"Boof writes with the precision of a surgeon, the wisdom of a griot and the fire of a volcano!"--Alicia Banks -- ELOQUENT FURY--February 2002

"Charismatic and richly layered...4 stars!"--Diane Marbury -- RAWSISTAZ REVIEWERS--March 2002

"This is dangerous writing in its rawest form...a treasured discovery."--Author Jaqueline Jones LaMon -- AALBC.COM--March 2002

Product Description

"In the book of the women…they are dark and light, wide and shapely, thin as reeds…their hair eats the sun and their eyes swallow the moon…these are Black Women…the daughters of the earth's first garden. The mothers of God. These are the stories that remind us where we came from and why we came…stories that make us laugh…make us mad as hell…make us want to cry…make us want to get up and eat. These are our reflections. Our love and dreams, our sexual longing and prayers. Our goodness. Our deep eternal beauty".

IN JANUARY of 2003, unfortunately, the original African publisher of this book was firebombed by Arab Muslim fundamentalists who were outraged with Boof's earlier works, as well as this one. The book went out of print and Kola Boof was let go by the publisher.

Although more than 100 newspapers around the world reported the firebombing of Kola Boof's publisher...only one (The New York Post) reported the story in the United States, and although the Sudanese born Kola Boof is an American citizen...there was virtually no concern for her situation from either the American writer's community or from American media, including black media outlets such as Essence Magazine, Black Issues Book Review or BET.

Cornel Chesney, an African American businessman in Southern California became aware of Kola Boof's predicament through her sensational appearances on singer Stevie Wonder's KJLH RADIO program "The Front Page" hosted by renowned radio journalist Carl Nelson and immediately offered to start a publishing company for the sole purpose of publishing Kola Boof's works and bringing this important feminist, Afrocentric masterpiece back into print.

This reissue of "Long Train to the Redeeming Sin" joins two other powerful works by Kola Boof, "Nile River Woman" and "Flesh and the Devil: A Novel"...as American raised author's first books released in the United States, the nation of her citizenship. Other fine work by Kola Boof can be found in Stephen Elliott's masterful short story collection, "Politically Inspired" where Boof appeared alongside Charles Baxter, Stuart O'Nan, Z.Z. Packer, Elizabeth Tallent, Anthony Swofford and Brian Gage.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 172 pages
• Publisher: Door of Kush (April 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0971201900
• ISBN-13: 978-0971201903
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #965,727 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's true...Black Women are Beautiful!, April 1, 2005

By	Judd (Iowa) - See all my reviews

My only complaint is that this book is too short. My girlfriend was given this book as a gift and didn't feel like reading about women in Africa, so I picked it up and I couldn't put it down. Man, it's powerful. It's about all these different African women in different parts of Africa and it tells a lot of things about black women that I never thought about. A lot of it was sad and lot of it was anger at black men and the white race, but the lives of these women is so interesting that I did not mind that. Warning, this book is not for young people, because the sexual themes are graphic and there is a graphic castration of a white man.

As a white man in Iowa, I just want to say that Black Women are beautiful.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Courage of Conviction, January 19, 2005

By	Kim Anderson Ray "The Suburban Sista" (Aiken, SC, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Sudanese-American writer Kola Boof is a vibrant and, occasionally, strident voice in afro-centric literature. LONG TRAIN TO THE REDEEMING SIN: Stories About African Women is an eclectic collection of poems and short stories that spans from the historical, to the mystical, to modern day Africa. The characters and plots are moving and relevant to the thoughts and issues of women on the African continent, but they are equally relevant to African-American women in helping us to understand the effects, both positive and negative, of American culture on African women as personified by the story entitled Black America Diva Girl. Further, Ms. Boof exploits the myth of the superiority of Anglo characteristics in Day of Vow where we meet the beautiful and tragic Zorina who questions "...if she was good enough to demand to be treated with affection and tenderness."

Ms. Boof's writing bubbles like a fountain with energy and, sometimes, incredible rage and grief. Although, the text could still use a good editing for typos and grammar errors, her skill as a storyteller is not to be denied. This book is insightful and innovative. Every woman, regardless of race or culture, should read it.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A New Classic for the Black Folks, June 11, 2005

By	Messiah "The Man" (D.C.) - See all my reviews

If you have read books at school like I had to by Langston Hughes, James Baldwin and people like that then you will not be disappointed with LONG TRAIN TO SIN. I never heard of Kola Boof six months ago, but now she's one of my 3 favorite authors.

I personally enjoyed her novel "Flesh and the Devil" better than this one, but these short stories are solid and the presentation is tight. This is more the kind of book they make you read in English or History class, but it's not boring and its different, so I have to give it a str8 up five stars.