Africa Is Not a Country, Dipo Faloyin
Africa Is Not a Country, Dipo Faloyin
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Africa Is Not a Country
Notes on a Bright Continent

Author: Dipo Faloyin

Narrator: Dipo Faloyin

Unabridged: 9 hr 24 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/06/2022


Synopsis

So often, Africa has been depicted simplistically as a uniform land of famines and safaris, poverty and strife, stripped of all nuance. In this bold and insightful book, Dipo Faloyin offers a much-needed corrective, weaving a vibrant tapestry of stories that bring to life Africa's rich diversity, communities, and histories.

Starting with an immersive description of the lively and complex urban life of Lagos, Faloyin unearths surprising truths about many African countries' colonial heritage and tells the story of the continent's struggles with democracy through seven dictatorships. With biting wit, he takes on the phenomenon of the white savior complex and brings to light the damage caused by charity campaigns of the past decades. Entering into the rivalries that energize the continent, Faloyin engages in the heated debate over which West African country makes the best jollof rice and describes the strange, incongruent beauty of the African Cup of Nations. With an eye toward the future promise of the continent, he explores the youth-led cultural and political movements that are defining and reimagining Africa on their own terms.

Africa Is Not a Country celebrates the energy and particularity of the continent's different cultures and communities, treating Africa with the respect it deserves.

About Dipo Faloyin

Dipo Faloyin is a senior editor at VICE, where he focuses on race, culture, and identity around the world. His writing has appeared in Dazed, Prospect, and HuffPost. Born in Chicago, raised in Lagos, he now lives in London.


Reviews

Goodreads review by BookOfCinz on January 10, 2024

This is what I call required reading. I am one of those persons who visibly cringe when I hear Africa being referred to as one thing, when it is so much more than that. I started reading this book during my 70 tour of the African continent and the insights that I got from that book made the experien......more

Goodreads review by La Crosse County Library on January 17, 2023

I think about Africa like I used to think about the Internet: vast, complex, distant. I want to dive in, but I don't know where to start. This book is a good place to dip your toes.     The author acknowledges the stereotypes early on and puts their truths in context: The warfare: Deadly tribal confli......more

Goodreads review by Daniel on April 12, 2022

I have learnt SO. MUCH. from this book. Absolutely mindblown and so so so so happy that I read it. Brilliantly written.......more

Goodreads review by Graeme on February 03, 2024

Ask me to name 15 countries in Europe or Asia, and I can list them off with hardly a thought. But ask me to do the same for Africa and I’d be hard pressed. I picked up this book because I realize that I have badly neglected this entire continent and it was about time I started to fix that. I was a we......more

Goodreads review by Jibraun on August 21, 2023

3.25 stars. I wanted to like this book more but couldn't. I'll first focus on the positives. 1. Faloyin is stylistically a strong writer, who is entertaining through most of the book. 2. The portions of the book on dictators, Western imperialism and its residue on the continent, and the pillage of Af......more