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Alexis Okeowo

A Moonless, Starless Sky: Ordinary Women and Men Fighting Extremism in Africa Hardcover – October 3, 2017

by Alexis Okeowo (Author)

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WINNER OF THE 2018 PEN OPEN BOOK AWARD

"A rich and urgently necessary book" (New York Times Book Review), A Moonless, Starless Sky is a masterful, humane work of literary journalism by New Yorker staff writer Alexis Okeowo--a vivid narrative of Africans who are courageously resisting their continent's wave of fundamentalism.

In A Moonless, Starless Sky, Okeowo weaves together four narratives that form a powerful tapestry of modern Africa: a young couple, kidnap victims of Joseph Kony's LRA; a Mauritanian waging a lonely campaign against modern-day slavery; a women's basketball team flourishing amid war-torn Somalia; and a vigilante who takes up arms against the extremist group Boko Haram. This debut book by one of America's most acclaimed young journalists illuminates the inner lives of ordinary people doing the extraordinary--lives that are too often hidden, underreported, or ignored by the rest of the world.

Print length

256 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Hachette Books
Publication date

October 3, 2017
Dimensions

5.63 x 0.88 x 8.25 inches
ISBN-10

0316382930
ISBN-13

978-0316382939
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Evocative and affecting.... Okeowo's in-depth, perceptive reporting gives a voice to ... extraordinarily courageous--and resilient--women and men."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Remarkable.... Okeowo writes with beauty and grace.... Refreshingly, she does not give in to easy answers.... Clear-eyed, lyrical, observant, and compassionate--reportage at its finest."--Kirkus (starred review)

"Finally, finally, finally--a humane, skillful storyteller with sound reporting instincts has dug into the middle of the stories we think we've already heard out of Africa. Alexis Okeowo can write prose as arresting as Ryszard Kapuscinski's, she's got Katherine Boo's big heart, but she has her own fresh way of approaching the work, one that is terribly overdue. Absolutely essential reading, period.--Alexandra Fuller, New York Times bestselling author of Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight and Quiet Until the Thaw

"Alexis Okeowo's startling and brilliant account of fierce horrors and tender hopes is one of the best records I have ever read of a world that has been made and remade time and again out of struggle and faith. Okeowo is just the kind of reporter we need to hear from when it comes to Africa, the 'new' old world: truthful, accurate, deep."--Hilton Als, Pulitzer-Prize winning author of White Girls

"From an abolitionist who once owned a slave to women basketball players in a war zone, Alexis Okeowo has an alert and thoughtful eye for the unexpected. The portraits and voices she brings us from Africa are so vivid that the reader can easily forget the determination and bravery it must have taken to gather them in these unhappy corners of the continent."--Adam Hochschild, New York Times bestselling author of King Leopold's Ghost and Spain in Our Hearts

"Spectacular reporting. Full of fresh, unexpected detail. If you want to get an immediate sense of the lives, both quotidian and extraordinary, of Africans in some of the continent's most troubled countries, read Alexis Okeowo's book."--William Finnegan, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Barbarian Days

"Alexis Okeowo has gone to the hardest continent and come away with a series of tales about the fight against fanaticism and despair. The result is a deeply sensitive portrait of modern Africa and a microscope on the human condition in the most difficult circumstances."--Dexter Filkins, Pulitzer-Prize winning author of The Forever War

"In A Moonless, Starless Sky, Alexis Okeowo has wandered as a reporter into some of Africa's most difficult and dangerous corners and delivered something remarkable: real characters, women and men, fully rendered."--Howard W. French, author of Everything Under the Heavens

"A rich and urgently necessary book … Okeowo has taken their stories, crafted them in all their courage and complexity and placed them at the center of the story of what it is to be human."--The New York Times

About the Author

Alexis Okeowo is a staff writer for the New Yorker and a fellow at New America. Her work has appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine, the Financial Times, Time, and Fortune, among many other publications. The daughter of immigrant parents, Okeowo grew up in Alabama and attended Princeton University. She was based in Lagos, Nigeria, from 2012 to 2015, and now lives in Brooklyn.

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Hachette Books; First Edition (October 3, 2017)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0316382930
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0316382939
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.6 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.63 x 0.88 x 8.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #416,552 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #299 in Political Advocacy Books
- #452 in African Politics
- #465 in Human Rights Law (Books)

Customer Reviews:
69 ratings

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Robert J. Crawford

Resisting fanatics in 4 complex and difficult situations

Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2021

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I got this because it was recommended in NYT as one of the “50 Best Books of Literary Journalism of the 21st Century”. While I don’t think it quite rises to that standard, it is an excellent inquiry into how a number of very strong people are coping with violent terrorists and extremists in Uganda, Nigeria, Mauritania, and Somalia.

First, there is a couple dealing with a bizarre Christian sect in Uganda, essentially a bunch of kidnappers who prey on children, turning them into terrorists who will kill on their orders in an effort to survive themselves. The story is how a 15-year-old woman was designated as a “wife” for a child soldier, how they kind of fell in love (a large part of it was accepting their fate), and then escaped and are attempting to build a life together. Once back in society, they must fight heavy prejudice and fear while raising children conceived under bondage.

Second, a budding politician in Mauritania takes on the institution of slavery, which is supported by a twisted interpretation of Islam by local powers. Though outlawed in 1981, the institution persists, even many slaves feel they have no alternative. He is a talented man who discovers his identity and calling in this cause, but at great cost to his family.

Third, there is a vigilante who defends his village against Boko Haram fanatics in Nigeria. A simple auditor, he resolves to fight this murderous sect, who act like a gang while using a twisted ideology to justify their carnage and pillaging. For example, while wandering, they come upon a farmer woman working on Friday (forbidden in Islam) and decide to cut off her hand in punishment. This was the essay in which I learned the most, as I’ve only read occasionally of their kidnappings of school girls, who they initiate into sexual slavery while preaching their brand of purified Islam.

Fourth, there is a passionate woman basketball player in Mogadishu, who decides to play in spite of death threats (she is disobeying their version of control of women under a Wahabi sect) and some very hairy situations, including the torture and murder of a friend. She is young and understands the danger she is courting, in spite of the admonishments of everyone.

The great virtue of these stories is that they leave the situations largely unresolved. No happy endings, no neat resolutions. Just the promise of more conflict, struggle and ambiguity. That’s real life and excellent reporting, not Hollywood nonsense. Americans can learn a great deal from this nonconformance to our traditional narratives. It is a spur to further research and a wonderful deepening of what we read in newspapers.

The book is organized a bit strangely. The first part sets the scenarios and problem. The second tells what happens later, in lieu of resolution. I skipped around in the first one, then read it straight through for the other three. It was hard to remember and pick up the threads, but the stories are so compelling that I got through it anyway. The author writes well, if eccentrically.

Helpful

Carolien S

Beyond the headlines, very personal tales of African resilience

Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2020

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We need more books like this. The author goes beyond the headlines and look at events from the lives of individuals. Two of the stories I was familiar with based on those headlines - the capture of the Chibok girls in Nigeria and the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda. The other two about slavery in Mauritania and girls basketball in Somalia were new to me. For each of these, background information is provided, but the main story is told through the eyes of the participants. The Mauritanian story is told through the eyes of a former slave and local anti-slavery activist. The LRA story tells the tale of a man and woman who were captured as children, had a forced marriage while captured, escaped and remarried. It tells about the social ostracism they face in their community due to their history and how difficult it is to return. The stories are well-told, very personal and important. Highly recommended.

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luvbub

oddly enough I felt like I didn’t care (as much as I should have) ...

Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2018

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For some reason the first 50 or 60 pages of this book went really fast for me. I was totally in to the stories about each of the individuals Okeowo writes about. Then, I’m not sure what happened, the book became a bit of a chore to finish. First, parts of it seemed repetitive. Second, oddly enough I felt like I didn’t care (as much as I should have) about the people in the book. Of course I cared about them in that what they’ve been through is horrible, unjust, unfair, and so supremely wrong there are just no words. So, I cared, but I didn’t identify, which I think is really what the author wanted for the readers of this book, ie, to see themselves in the people of this book.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Michael Solis

Courageous, thoughtful, necessary

Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2017

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A Moonless, Starless Sky is a thoughtfully written book, capturing the perspectives of people whose stories needed to be told but hadn’t yet been brought into the light. Alexis Okeowo uncovers the fascinating and unique experiences of those combating extremism, terror, racism, and/or misogyny in four African countries. These include a Ugandan woman abducted by the LRA who marries the former child soldier who raped her; an activist in Mauritania who seeks to bring visibility to and demolish the practice of slavery in his country; a man in Nigeria who risks his life leading a local militia to combat Boko Haram; and a young woman who receives death threats from Al-Shabaab for playing basketball in Somalia. A talented journalist, Okeowo goes beyond the word and stylistic limits of the article to delve much deeper into the lives of the people featured in her book, often to her own emotional detriment. The book is told in two sets of four chapters. The first four chapters end with very beautifully written cliffhangers that leave the reader yearning to learn about the fates of the people whose stories have been captured. The second set provides some semblance of resolution, but these are real people who continue to lead their lives in very precarious and unpredictable circumstances.

The book is very accessible for those who haven’t read much about Africa and is a great entry point for those who would like to learn more about a diverse set of countries filled with stories of tragedy, struggle, bravery, and, ultimately, hope. Thanks to Alexis Okeowo for her courage in locating and unveiling some of these stories and for presenting them in such a meaningful way.

One person found this helpful

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Aj96

Great novel highlighting the struggle of citizens under extremist regimes

Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2020

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Great novel highlighting the struggle of citizens under extremist regimes.

Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2018

Verified Purchase

There are no mutants here, just ordinary humans who have made choices to deny easy victory to forces seeking to destroy them. And the way that Ms. Okeowo approaches them and tells their stories is quite simply humane. Their stories are compelling, but not embellished. This is all a non-fiction reader could want.

Helpful

Dennis P. Moore

Got to know her subjects!

Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2021

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Did an excellent job getting to know her individuals in 4 different stories. At her own expense! Bravo!Impressedwith young author. Great promise.

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Glenn Myers

Eye-opening

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 17, 2020

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This is excellent book-length journalism. Alexis Okeowo has travelled widely, interviewed sensitively, researched carefully and written smoothly to capture four stories of Africans caught up with, and struggling against, the Lord's Army in Uganda, slavery in Mauritania, Boko Haram's kidnappings in Nigeria, and al-Shabaab's extremism in Somalia. Most of her readers, I guess, will have known all these situations from the regular news; this book uncovers the human stories, the battles with trauma, the way the fight distorts lives, the incomplete endings. Congratulations to the author for bringing this stuff into the light. A really worthwhile book.

One person found this helpful

Harrietf

A beautifully crafted

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 27, 2018

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both harrowing and hopeful. A beautifully crafted book

One person found this helpful

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