The Mookse and the Gripes discussion
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Creatures of Passage
Women's Prizes
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2022 WP longlist - Creatures of Passage
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Hugh, Active moderator
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Mar 08, 2022 03:23AM
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Creatures Of Passage by Morowa Yejidé
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Nice to see an RoC type book published by Jacaranda in the UK and (as Paul has pointed out to me) a possibly even more RoC friendly publisher in the US - making the Women's Prize which as we know seems almost deliberately anti-small press and pro the big conglomerates
Yes I love the US publisher. Could almost be a RoC mission statement. Although Jacaranda recused themselves from the RoC this year due to size. Akashic Books is a Brooklyn-based independent company dedicated to publishing urban literary fiction and political nonfiction by authors who are either ignored by the mainstream, or who have no interest in working within the ever-consolidating ranks of the major corporate publishers.
Is anyone able to order this one? I’m not having luck. I tried Akashic, Book Depository, and Am*zon.
Yes from paul who promised to order it for me.
Ebook on U.S. Hoopla so I am just borrowing it.
I was able to order this directly from Jacaranda.
Incidentally Jacaranda and Akashic have partnered before on a book which made the Women's Prize List - Praise Song for the Butterflies.
That was a very good book I recallUnbound have also had a longlisted book
As well as Unbound - the two surprises (and newbies) on the longlist in publisher terms were Myriad and Europa editions - both Independent Alliance members I think but both new to the WP (and I think not on the main Booker in the last ten years - I guess Europa are on the IB?)
Europa Editions did make the MBI in 2019 and some earlier years (eg they publish Ferrante). They also published the 2021 anglo Booker winner - but only in the US.
Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer wrote: "Yes from paul who promised to order it for me."It is on the way. 21 quid is a bit toppy!
Paul wrote: "Incidentally Jacaranda and Akashic have partnered before on a book which made the Women's Prize List - Praise Song for the Butterflies."I highly recommend Praise Song! It made Bernice McFadden one of my favorite authors. Newest Literary Fiction had a great book discussion thread for it a couple of years ago. Here's my short review, fwiw.
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Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer
(last edited Mar 08, 2022 10:09AM)
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rated it 4 stars
And fwiw here is mine (which is rather voluminous)https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Yours I think is much more in keeping with the "all fire no smoke" (your brilliant description) nature of the novel
I just ordered this from Blackwells. I love ghost stories.
This is both good news - massive sales boost - but disappointing in terms of getting the book. From JacarandaGood evening Paul,
Thank you so much for ordering Creatures of Passage, now longlisted for the Women's Prize 2022!
Due to the incredible demand that followed the Prize announcement earlier this week, the book is now unfortunately out of stock. A reprint is currently underway, though it will take approximately 3-4 weeks to arrive — significantly longer than we'd like, but regrettably unavoidable due to ongoing issues in the global supply chain.
That explains why two days later my order is still being processed by Blackwells.
That explains why my Blackwell’s order is still processing.Akashic Books in the US published it also and they are out of stock.
I received the same email as Paul from Jacaranda. Disappointing because this was one of the WP books I was most interested in. Fortunately, I have plenty of other things to read.
It’s almost a relief to me as I have 12 other WP books to work through first.
Whereas I am out of books! Mind you my Jacaranda book was going to Gumble’s house not mine.
I’m going to do something I have never done and that is buy the Kindle version, for $7 more I can get audio narration, so I’ll try that as well. Paul, what do you do in the evening with no books to read? I don’t leave my house without a book in case I get stuck waiting somewhere.
Well as my wife would point out there are three children to look after, meals to cook, a garden to tend etc and as my boss would point out I have a job of a 24/7 type nature. So oddly I don't get too bored.
Yet you manage to read a book a day. Are you saying you neglect your housholder duties and work duties when you have reading material? :)
That opinion has been advanced, although not by me
I got this in audio from Audible.com. It is read by the author, who does a very good job. My reaction is mixed. At time, I liked it quite a bit but then at other times I found it annoying. I rated it 3.5 and rounded down for the annoyance factor. Here's my review -- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I also liked Praise Song, although I had to read GY's review to remember it to a significant degree. My review, slightly longer than Nadine's and without any perfectly capturing phrase, did not do the trick -- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Looks like LindaJ^ and I are the only ones who've read the book so far? Maybe I count as only half a reader, since I DNF'ed about page 100. It's an ambitious book, and in another mood I might have pushed through to honor its ambitions and strengths, but there was a slowness and heaviness to the pacing that defeated me this time. In defense of the book, it says something about my reading mood that the book I've turned to in its place is comfort foody - A Wizard of Earthsea.
From the rankings, it looks like only two of us have read it so far. It’s been hard to locate for me.
I finished reading this one late last night (I was able to get a copy from the library but it appears not to be around much -- only one library in our 30-library consortium bought it). I liked it, and I liked a lot what the author was trying to do. But it felt bogged down in a lot of places, and with too many ancillary characters. It would have been a much better book with some tightening up.
I’ve read it - I enjoyed it but think it had the potential to be quite powerful. It fell short of that though. Still a good read!
I received notice that mine is being sent, finally.
Did you order through Jacaranda, Wendy?
I thought this was one of the most interesting and distinctive books on the longlist - I am not sure I can say I enjoyed it but its impressive in formulationSome thoughts ........
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Good review GY, especially about the imagery, which helped me appreciate the book more. I do think calling the states "kingdoms" was a mistake - it kept throwing me out of the mystery of the book.
I cannot see what that successfully achieved.
Perhaps it was to show that, functionally for Black Americans, the difference between democracy and monarchy is illusory.
The difference is an illusion - we have both!
A lot of the Novel teeters on the edge of affectation and this i think is one example. I think you need to read the novel to get the real sense of it.
I would but my copy was stolen in the post and diverted to your house
This is the one I’m still waiting to arrive.
Have you checked if your brother received it instead?
David, I ordered mine from Blackwells because Jacaranda was sold out. When it looked like it might never come I ordered an ebook with audio narration and tonight while baking I listened to it in audio. I love it. I’m only on what I think is chapter 10, Twelve Hours of Night, but I think this will be my #1 book. The writing is very good and it’s a really good story.I think you’re on to something with why the states are called kingdoms, Paul. Even in what passes as a democracy here in the US, the country black Americans experience is not the country white Americans experience, and calling the kingdoms by the state names let’s the reader know these are recognizable places. That’s my guess anyway.
I haven’t read any of the, I’m sure very good and fair, reviews because I avoid reviews until I’m done with a book, but so far I’m loving it. It’s what I hoped Popisho/This One Sky Day would be and was not for me.
Yejide is a good narrator and I would rather listen to the rest of the book in audio rather than read it print, which is a first for me.
I started this on audio too and I’d still like to get and read the physical book as well. It’s early, but I think this might also be my #1.
Oh good, I’m glad you have it. My book has been shipped from Blackwells. If Jacaranda still doesn’t have it available you could try Blackwells, shipping is still free so far.
I’m surprised Blackwells has it. I thought we were waiting on Jacaranda to do another printing. I just ordered from Blackwells.
The best is to order from the publisher, but if that’s not possible ordering new from a bookstore still profits author and press.
I’ve now ordered from both so all are happy.
The Mookse and the Gripes
Books mentioned in this topic
Martin John (other topics)Lincoln in the Bardo (other topics)
A Wizard of Earthsea (other topics)
Creatures of Passage (other topics)
