We Are All Zimbabweans Now
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- $28.99
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- $28.99
Publisher Description
We Are All Zimbabweans Now is a political thriller set in Zimbabwe in the hopeful, early days of Robert Mugabe’s rise to power in the late 1980s. When Ben Dabney, a Wisconsin graduate student, arrives in the country, he is enamored with Mugabe and the promises of his government’s model of racial reconciliation. But as Ben begins his research and delves more deeply into his hero’s life, he finds fatal flaws. Ultimately Ben reconsiders not only his understanding of Mugabe, but his own professional and personal life.
James Kilgore brings an authentic voice to a work of youthful hope, disillusionment, and unsettling resolution.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
At times unfocused and noncommittal, Kilgore's debut novel follows Ben Dabney, a similarly scattered Wisconsin graduate student, as he eagerly attempts to chronicle Zimbabwe's struggle for liberation and subsequent reconciliation under the rule of his admitted idol, Robert Mugabe. After arrogantly refusing to adjust his idealistic views of Mugabe's government at the request of his advisor, Professor Latham, or heed various threats to steer clear of controversial political topics in his research, Ben eventually opens his eyes to the realities and atrocities of the Zimbabwean government. But instead of fighting back, he switches his focus to an easier, less controversial topic, just as he ran from a relationship with a student, and from his estranged daughter in the States. Ben leads a cast of one-dimensional characters who are capable of expressing only the most shallow of human emotions, despite personal tragedy and suffering. Kilgore's story fails to capitalize on potentially intriguing conflicts and character motivations that might have spiced up the dry, textbook-like narrative.
