Overview

As one of Britain's foremost poets, Ben Okri brings both poetry and story together, paring writing and image down to their essentials. This significant title story 'The Comic Destiny' forms the centrepiece of this collection, complemented by thirteen magical stokus. In his new introduction Ben Okri describes it as a talisman, an alchemic instigator for much of his later work. The stoku is a blend of story and haiku. And thirteen, according to the author, is the number of liberation. All these stories are about freedom. They flow easily, but burn slowly. And they offer the possibility of freedom beyond the confines of our usual perception. 'Moments of genuine insight and poetry' Guardian. 'Okri's writing has a light-as-air elegance, yet its seriousness keeps the stories gravity bound' New Statesman.

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9781788549653

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PRAISE FOR BEN OKRI: 'Okri is incapable of writing a boring sentence. As one startling image follows the next, The Famished Road begins to read like an epic poem that happens to touch down just this side of prose ... When I finished the book and went outside, it was as if all the trees of South London had angels sitting in them' Linda Grant, Independent on Sunday. 'A magical book in every sense, a spellbinding, poetic, artistic journey into our collective imaginations and inner selves' Will Gompertz, BBC Arts Editor. 'Okri's writing has a light-as-air elegance, yet its seriousness keeps the stories gravity-bound' New Statesman. 'In a magnificent feat of sustained imaginative writing, Okri spins a tale that is epic and intimate at the same time' Michael Palin. 'This is a book to generate apostles. People will be moved and, with stars in their eyes, will pass on the word' Time Out.

'Okri brings both poetry and story together in a fascinating new form, using writing and image pared down to their essentials where haiku and story meet' The Bookseller.

Author Information

Ben Okri was born in Minna, Nigeria. His childhood was divided between Nigeria, where he saw first hand the consequences of war, and London. He has won many prizes over the years for his fiction, and is also an acclaimed essayist, playwright, and poet.

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