Most Popular Books by Teju Cole

An “extraordinary, ambitious” (The Times UK) novel that masterfully explores what constitutes a meaningful life in a violent world—from the award-winning author of Open City New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice • “Cole’s mind is so agile that it’s easy to follow him anywhere.”—The New Yorker WINNER OF THE ANISFIELD-WOLF BOOK AWARD • FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD • A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Time, The Washington Post, Financial Times, Vulture, Chicago Public Library, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal Life is hopeless but it is not serious. We have to have danced while we could and, later, to have danced again in the telling. A weekend spent antiquing is shadowed by the colonial atrocities that occurred on that land. A walk at dusk is interrupted by casual racism. A loving marriage is riven by mysterious tensions. And a remarkable cascade of voices speaks out from a pulsing metropolis. We’re invited to experience these events and others through the eyes and ears of Tunde, a West African man working as a teacher of photography on a renowned New England campus. He is a reader, a listener, a traveler, drawn to many different kinds of stories: stories from history and epic; stories of friends, family, and strangers; stories found in books and films. Together these stories make up his days. In aggregate these days comprise a life. Tremor is a startling work of realism and invention that engages brilliantly with literature, music, race, and history as it examines the passage of time and how we mark it. It is a reckoning with human survival amidst “history’s own brutality, which refuses symmetries and seldom consoles,” but it is also a testament to the possibility of joy. As he did in his magnificent debut Open City, Teju Cole once again offers narration with all its senses alert, a surprising and deeply essential work from a beacon of contemporary literature.

“Cerebral and capacious, Teju Cole’s novel asks what it means to roam freely.”—The New York Times (One of the 25 Most Significant New York City Novels From the Last 100 Years) “Influential . . . makes you think about what kind of city is revealed to us based on where we cannot go.”—Katie Kitamura, bestselling author of Intimacies ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Time, NPR • WINNER: PEN/Hemingway Award, Rosenthal Foundation Award, New York City Book Award “A timely and compelling argument for tolerance and moral character in times of extreme antagonism.”—The New York Times One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years Along the streets of Manhattan, a young Nigerian doctor named Julius doing his residency wanders aimlessly. The walks are a release from the tightly regulated mental environment of work, and they give him the opportunity to process his relationships, his recent breakup, his present, his past. Though he’s navigating the busy parts of town, the impression of countless faces does nothing to assuage his feelings of isolation. Julius crisscrosses social territory as well, encountering people from different cultures and classes who provide insight on his journey—which takes him to Brussels, to the Nigeria of his youth, and into the most unrecognizable facets of his own soul. Seething with intelligence and written in a clear, rhythmic voice, Open City is a haunting, mature, profound work about our country and our world. FINALIST: National Book Critics Circle Award, Young Lions Fiction Award • A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Economist, Newsweek, The New Republic, New York Daily News, Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, The Seattle Times, Minneapolis Star Tribune, GQ, Salon, Slate, New York, The Week, The Kansas City Star, Kirkus Reviews, The Guardian, Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, The Irish Times

NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY DWIGHT GARNER, THE NEW YORK TIMES • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY San Francisco Chronicle | NPR | The Root | The Telegraph | The Globe and Mail NATIONAL BESTSELLER • FINALIST, PHILLIS WHEATLEY BOOK AWARD • TEJU COLE WAS NAMED ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL AFRICANS OF THE YEAR BY NEW AFRICAN MAGAZINE For readers of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Michael Ondaatje, Every Day Is for the Thief is a wholly original work of fiction by Teju Cole, whose critically acclaimed debut, Open City, was the winner of the PEN/Hemingway Award and a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, and was named one of the best books of the year by more than twenty publications. Fifteen years is a long time to be away from home. It feels longer still because I left under a cloud. A young Nigerian living in New York City goes home to Lagos for a short visit, finding a city both familiar and strange. In a city dense with story, the unnamed narrator moves through a mosaic of life, hoping to find inspiration for his own. He witnesses the “yahoo yahoo” diligently perpetrating email frauds from an Internet café, longs after a mysterious woman reading on a public bus who disembarks and disappears into a bookless crowd, and recalls the tragic fate of an eleven-year-old boy accused of stealing at a local market. Along the way, the man reconnects with old friends, a former girlfriend, and extended family, taps into the energies of Lagos life—creative, malevolent, ambiguous—and slowly begins to reconcile the profound changes that have taken place in his country and the truth about himself. In spare, precise prose that sees humanity everywhere, interwoven with original photos by the author, Every Day Is for the Thief—originally published in Nigeria in 2007—is a wholly original work of fiction. This revised and updated edition is the first version of this unique book to be made available outside Africa. You’ve never read a book like Every Day Is for the Thief because no one writes like Teju Cole. Praise for Every Day Is for the Thief “A luminous rumination on storytelling and place, exile and return . . . extraordinary.”—San Francisco Chronicle “Cole is following in a long tradition of writerly walkers who, in the tradition of Baudelaire, make their way through urban spaces on foot and take their time doing so. Like Alfred Kazin, Joseph Mitchell, J. M. Coetzee, and W. G. Sebald (with whom he is often compared), Cole adds to the literature in his own zeitgeisty fashion.”—The Boston Globe

A blazingly intelligent first book of essays from the award-winning author of Open City and Every Day Is for the Thief NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Time • The Guardian • Harper''s Bazaar • San Francisco Chronicle • The Atlantic • Financial Times • Kirkus Finalist for the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay and PEN/Jean Stein Book Award With this collection of more than fifty pieces on politics, photography, travel, history, and literature, Teju Cole solidifies his place as one of today’s most powerful and original voices. On page after page, deploying prose dense with beauty and ideas, he finds fresh and potent ways to interpret art, people, and historical moments, taking in subjects from Virginia Woolf, Shakespeare, and W. G. Sebald to Instagram, Barack Obama, and Boko Haram. Cole brings us new considerations of James Baldwin in the age of Black Lives Matter; the African American photographer Roy DeCarava, who, forced to shoot with film calibrated exclusively for white skin tones, found his way to a startling and true depiction of black subjects; and (in an essay that inspired both praise and pushback when it first appeared) the White Savior Industrial Complex, the system by which African nations are sentimentally aided by an America “developed on pillage.” Persuasive and provocative, erudite yet accessible, Known and Strange Things is an opportunity to live within Teju Cole’s wide-ranging enthusiasms, curiosities, and passions, and a chance to see the world in surprising and affecting new frames. Praise for Known and Strange Things “On every level of engagement and critique, Known and Strange Things is an essential and scintillating journey.”—Claudia Rankine, The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice) “A heady mix of wit, nostalgia, pathos, and a genuine desire to untangle the world, or at the least, to bask in its unending riddles.”—The Atlantic “Brilliant . . . [Known and Strange Things] reveals Cole’s extraordinary talent and his capacious mind.”—Time “[Known and Strange Things] showcases the magnificent breadth of subjects [Cole] is able to plumb with . . . passion and eloquence.”—Harper’s Bazaar “[Cole is] one of the most vibrant voices in contemporary writing.”—LA Times “Cole has fulfilled the dazzling promise of his novels Every Day Is for the Thief and Open City. He ranges over his interests with voracious keenness, laser-sharp prose, an open heart and a clear eye.”—The Guardian “Remarkably probing essays . . . Cole is one of only a very few lavishing his focused attention on that most approachable (and perhaps therefore most overlooked) art form, photography.”—Chicago Tribune “There’s almost no subject Cole can’t come at from a startling angle. . . . His [is a] prickly, eclectic, roaming mind.”—The Boston Globe “[Cole] brings a subtle, layered perspective to all he encounters.”—Vanity Fair “In page after page, Cole upholds the sterling virtue of good writing combined with emotional and intellectual engagement.”—The New Statesman “[Known and Strange Things possesses] a passion for justice, a deep sympathy for the poor and the powerless around the world, and a fiery moral outrage.”—Poets and Writers

In this innovative synthesis of words and images, the award-winning author of Open City and photography critic for The New York Times Magazine combines two of his great passions. One of Time’s Top 10 Non-Fiction Books of the Year • One of Smithsonian’s Ten Best Photography Books of the Year When it comes to Teju Cole, the unexpected is not unfamiliar: He’s an acclaimed novelist, an influential essayist, and an internationally exhibited photographer. In Blind Spot, readers follow Cole’s inimitable artistic vision into the visual realm as he continues to refine the voice, eye, and intellectual obsessions that earned him such acclaim for Open City. Here, journey through more than 150 of Cole’s full-color original photos, each accompanied by his lyrical and evocative prose, forming a multimedia diary of years of near-constant travel: from a park in Berlin to a mountain range in Switzerland, a church exterior in Lagos to a parking lot in Brooklyn; landscapes and interiors, beautiful or quotidian, that inspire Cole’s memories, fantasies, and introspections. Ships in Capri remind him of the work of writers from Homer to Edna O’Brien; a hotel room in Wannsee brings back a disturbing dream about a friend’s death; a home in Tivoli evokes a transformative period of semi-blindness, after which “the photography changed. . . . The looking changed.” As exquisitely wrought as the work of Anne Carson or Chris Marker, Blind Spot is a testament to the art of seeing by one of the most powerful and original voices in contemporary literature. Praise for Blind Spot “Common things [are] made radiant by the quality of Cole’s looking. . . . In this new, luminous book, Cole shows himself to be really one of the best at seeing.”—The Guardian “This lyrical essay in photographs paired with texts explores the mysteries of the ordinary.”—The New York Times Books Review (Editors’ Choice) “Stunning . . . feels like the fulfillment of an intellectual project that has defined most of [Cole’s] career.”—Slate “Dazzling . . . cerebral yet intimate . . . combines personal essay, history, biography, journalism, and photography into a seamless package, capturing human dignity and grace through careful, clear-eyed reverence.”—Vice “An eclectically brilliant distillation of what photography can do, and why it remains an important art form.”—San Francisco Chronicle

A profound book of essays from a celebrated master of the form. “Darkness is not empty,” writes Teju Cole in Black Paper, a book that meditates on what it means to sustain our humanity—and witness the humanity of others—in a time of darkness. One of the most celebrated essayists of his generation, Cole here plays variations on the essay form, modeling ways to attend to experience—not just to take in but to think critically about what we sense and what we don’t. Wide-ranging but thematically unified, the essays address ethical questions about what it means to be human and what it means to bear witness, recognizing how our individual present is informed by a collective past. Cole’s writings in Black Paper approach the fractured moment of our history through a constellation of interrelated concerns: confrontation with unsettling art, elegies both public and private, the defense of writing in a time of political upheaval, the role of the color black in the visual arts, the use of shadow in photography, and the links between literature and activism. Throughout, Cole gives us intriguing new ways of thinking about blackness and its numerous connotations. As he describes the carbon-copy process in his epilogue: “Writing on the top white sheet would transfer the carbon from the black paper onto the bottom white sheet. Black transported the meaning.”

The picturesque vistas and apparent stability of Switzerland have made it an elusive subject for contemporary photography. Over a five-year period (2014-2019), Cole found a distinctly new way to look at a country that has been the quintessence of tourist experience for almost two centuries. Fernweh muses on the German word for a longing to be elsewhere. Cole''s meditative and scrupulously composed work, made with colour film, is evocative of the hidden history of the Alpine nation as well as of its highly curated terrain. Returning to Switzerland year after year, Cole shares the patience and mild palette of luminaries of contemporary European photography - but the constructivist tension in these images is all his own. With photographs shot in every corner of the country - from Vaud to Graubünden to Lugano - Fernweh creates a vision of Switzerland that, though largely devoid of human presence, is rich in human traces; none more so than Cole''s own distinct way of seeing. --

Tunde is fotograaf en docent aan een universiteit in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Op een dag gaat hij met zijn vrouw op zoek naar meubels en in een antiekwinkel vindt hij een Afrikaans beeldje dat door de verkoper ‘authentiek’ wordt genoemd. De winkel zelf is gevestigd in een monumentaal huis, met een plaquette die de bloedige koloniale geschiedenis ervan uitlegt. Het bezoek aan de antiekwinkel zet Tunde aan het denken over het westerse begrip authenticiteit en hij komt tot de conclusie dat hij maar weinig medelijden heeft met het lot van de kolonisten. Tijdens zijn colleges op de universiteit en een reis naar Lagos blijft hij nadenken over hoe wreedheden in de geschiedenis zich verhouden tot het heden. In Trilling vlecht Teju Cole een mozaïek van literatuur, muziek, ras en geschiedenis. Door de ogen van Tunde, en uiteindelijk vele andere stemmen, komt een verrassende en essentiële vertelling tot leven.

In the period leading up to the November 3, 2020 elections in the United States, Teju Cole began to photograph his kitchen counter in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Working in the still life tradition of Chardin, Cezanne, and the Dutch masters, as well as such contemporary photographers as Laura Letinsky and Jan Groover, he photographed every day over the course of five weeks. Unlike those illustrious forbears, Cole left his arrangements entirely to chance, ?the bowls and plates moving in their unpredictable constellations.? What emerges is a surprising portrait, across time, of one kitchen counter in one home at a time of social, cultural, and political upheaval. Alongside the photographs is a long written essay, as wide-ranging in its concerns?hunger, fasting, mourning, slavery, intimacy, painting, poetry and the history of photography?as the photographs are delimited in theirs. The text and photographic sequences are interspersed with an anonymous handwritten eighteenth century cookbook from Cambridge. Golden Apple of the Sun is a luminous and humane work, presented with the formal boldness and oblique intelligence we have come to expect from Teju Cole.

________________ ''This anthology will help turn your intellectual understanding of oppression into an emotional one'' - New Statesman ''Thanks for being who you are and for giving us such exposure to wonderful people. Palestine is proud of you'' - Suad Amiry ________________ The Palestine Festival of Literature was established in 2008. Bringing together writers from all corners of the globe, it aims to help Palestinians break the cultural siege imposed by the Israeli military occupation, to strengthen their artistic links with the rest of the world, and to reaffirm, in the words of Edward Said, ''the power of culture over the culture of power''. Celebrating the tenth anniversary of PalFest, This Is Not a Border is a collection of essays, poems and stories from some of the world''s most distinguished artists, responding to their experiences at this unique festival. Both heartbreaking and hopeful, their gathered work is a testament to the power of literature to promote solidarity and courage in the most desperate of situations. Contributors: Susan Abulhawa, Suad Amiry, Victoria Brittain, Jehan Bseiso, Teju Cole, Molly Crabapple, Selma Dabbagh, Mahmoud Darwish, Najwan Darwish, Geoff Dyer, Yasmin El-Rifae, Adam Foulds, Ru Freeman, Omar Robert Hamilton, Suheir Hammad, Nathalie Handal, Mohammed Hanif, Jeremy Harding, Rachel Holmes, John Horner, Remi Kanazi, Brigid Keenan, Mercedes Kemp, Omar El-Khairy, Nancy Kricorian, Sabrina Mahfouz, Jamal Mahjoub, Henning Mankell, Claire Messud, China Miéville, Pankaj Mishra, Deborah Moggach, Muiz, Maath Musleh, Michael Palin, Ed Pavlic, Atef Abu Saif, Kamila Shamsie, Raja Shehadeh, Gillian Slovo, Ahdaf Soueif, Linda Spalding, Will Sutcliffe, Alice Walker With messages from China Achebe, Michael Ondaatje and J. M. Coetzee ________________ ''Every literary act, whether it is a great epic poem or an honest piece of journalism or a simple nonsense tale for children is a blow against the forces of stupidity and ignorance and darkness ... The Palestine Festival of Literature exists to do just that – and I salute it for its work. Not only this year but for as long as it is necessary'' - Philip Pullman

In this series, Aperture Foundation works with the world''s top photographers to distill their creative approaches, teachings, and insights on photography-offering the workshop experience in a book. Our goal is to inspire photographers of all levels who wish to improve their work, as well as readers interested in deepening their understanding of the art of photography. Each volume is introduced by a well-known student of the featured photographer. In this book, internationally acclaimed color photographers Alex Webb and Rebecca Norris Webb, offer their expert insight into street photography and the poetic image. Through words and photographs-their own and others''-they invite the reader into the heart of their artistic processes. They share their thoughts about a wide range of practical and philosophical issues, from questions about seeing and being in the world with a camera, to how to shape a complete body of work in a way that''s both structured and intuitive.

Teju Cole es un observador tan perspicaz como emotivo, dotado de una especial sensibilidad para captar la extrañeza latente en las realidades conocidas. El amplio abanico de temas que trata en los ensayos escritos para diversos medios y reunidos en este volumen atestigua la riqueza de sus intereses, que versan desde la política hasta los viajes, pasando por la fotografía, la historia o la literatura. "Hay otro libro posible que incluye todo lo que no aparece en éste [...] tal vez tendría un tono más crítico, sería más analítico e incluiría juicios más argumentados. Pero este libro que el lector tiene entre las manos, aunque reúne todos esos elementos, prefiere la epifanía". La lectura de estos textos, persuasivos y desafiantes a un tiempo, nos brinda la oportunidad de observar el mundo desde perspectivas insólitas y descubrir cosas nuevas en el más cotidiano de los paisajes. "Cole propicia el asombro ante el bagaje intelectual disfrazado de improvisación y levedad. Las cosas "conocidas y extrañas" del título son sólo una, familiar y desconcertante al mismo tiempo, y resumen la experiencia de estar vivo emocional e intelectualmente en este momento histórico". Patricio Pron, El País -Babelia "Cole se narra desembalando sus "entusiasmos más vitales" de tal manera que el lector, a medida que avanza la lectura, descubre qué sitios y qué escritores son sus "piedras angulares"". Anna Maria Iglesia, El Mundo -La Esfera de Papel "La perspectiva global de Cole alcanza aquí su límite. La historia nos ofrece un enorme archivo de conocimiento que influye en las definiciones que construimos sobre nosotros mismos y las cuestiona. En todos los niveles de compromiso y crítica, Cosas conocidas y extrañas constituye una travesía esencial y brillante". Claudia Rankine, El Mundo -El Cultural "En cuanto veo un libro firmado por Teju Cole, empiezo a deleitarme pensando en esa prosa austera y ágil que tanto me maravilla. No sabía qué esperar de Cosas conocidas y extrañas, pero sabía que la necesitaba. Y ha sido un auténtico acierto penetrar en estas páginas". Darío Luque, Anika entre libros "El amplio abanico de temas que trata va desde la política hasta los viajes, pasando por la historia o la literatura. Teju Cole es un observador perspicaz, dotado de una sensibilidad especial para captar la extrañeza latente en las realidades conocidas". La Opinión de Málaga "Con un estilo aparentemente leve, disfrazado de transparencia, Cole despliega su asombroso talento para hablarnos de calles y ciudades, literatura, fotografía y política, pero también de sus miedos y sus dudas". Diario La Central "Si tuviera que definir la literatura de Cole, diría que es exploración. Y en este proceso de reconocimiento o búsqueda, persigue otro propósito todavía mayor, y más complejo, como intentar comprender el propio comportamiento humano de tal manera que demuestra su interés por la realidad en la que vivimos. Magistral". Eric Gras, El Periódico Mediterráneo "La mirada del narrador funciona como una cámara para captar la realidad. Ningún tema pasa desapercibido a la mirada analítica de Cole". L''Avenç "Claro y raso: Teju Cole es, sobre todo, un literato, un artista de la palabra". Vicent Alonso, El Diario "Desafiante, lejos de la autoridad institucional o la restricción genérica, la colección de artículos Cosas conocidas y extrañas revela su multiplicidad espaciotemporal". José de María Romero Barea, Le Monde Diplomatique

Teju Coles debutroman hyllades av en entusiastisk kritikerkår både i USA och Storbritannien när den utkom 2011, och den blev en oväntad försäljningsframgång. Öppen stad handlar om Julius, en ung doktorand i psykiatri som tillbringar sin lediga tid till fots på New Yorks gator. På ytan är boken en berättelse om en ung främling bosatt i New York efter 9/11. Men det är också en intellektuellt, politiskt, och litterärt utmanade roman om vår tids stora frågor. En sociologisk och på samma gång meditativ undersökning av New York och dess historia, av människorna i Julius liv och hans barndomsminnen från Nigeria.

Morningside Heights è un buon punto per partire. Incastrato fra la cima di Central Park e il fondo di Harlem, è un punto di partenza buono come ogni altro per le peregrinazioni di questo flâneur contemporaneo, il narratore nigeriano-tedesco Julius, che nella città simbolo della modernità incontra persone, luoghi ed epoche differenti, e lascia che ogni impressione germogli in idee per il nostro tempo. Scritto in una prosa che ricorda quella di W. G. Sebald e J. M. Coetzee, questo poliedrico esordio ha fatto di Teju Cole una delle voci più promettenti e acclamate del panorama letterario contemporaneo.

En man återvänder till Nigeria efter många år i New York. Han landar i ett Lagos som är laddat med barndomens minnen men också något främmande: våld, en plötslig vaksamhet. Berättaren tar in staden genom att röra sig genom den, i buss eller bil; inte sällan fastnar han i en av de evighetslånga bilköer som tillhör dagarnas rytm. Här finns ”yahoo yahoo”, de unga män som skickar spammejl över hela världen, en gammal kärlek, korrumperade poliser och tjuvar. För det här är också en bok om tjuvar. Om kolonialtidens djupa sår, om en stat som stjäl från sina medborgare, om ropet som ljuder över marknadsplatsen, ”Tjuv!” och vad en mobb är kapabel till. Varje dag är tjuvens dag är en liten bok med stor sprängkraft. Teju Cole rör sig blixtsnabbt mellan det lilla och det stora och ger en fascinerande inblick i ett Nigeria som nu förändras snabbt. Teju Cole (född 1975 i USA, uppvuxen i Nigeria) fick sitt internationella genombrott med flanörromanen Öppen stad, som kom på svenska 2013. Cole är författare, fotograf och konsthistoriker.

Julius, un jove psiquiatre nigerià resident en un hospital de Nova York, passeja pels carrers de Manhattan. Caminar sense rumb es converteix per a ell en una necessitat que l''allibera de les constriccions de la seva feina, i que li ofereix la possibilitat afegida d''obrir la seva ment a un fantasieig entre la literatura, l''art o la música i les seves relacions personals, el passat i el present. Als seus passeigs, explora cada racó de la ciutat. Però Julius no solament recorre un espai físic, sinó que també en freqüenta un altre, en el qual s''hi entrellacen un munt d''estímuls que l''interpel·len. "Ciutat oberta" és una novel·la bellíssima, i és també el descobriment lluminós d''una veu tan original i subtil com extraordinària.

Een jonge Nigeriaan die in New York woont, gaat naar Lagos voor een kort bezoek. Bij aankomst treft hij een zowel bekende als vreemde stad aan. Hij ziet de `yahoo yahoos die vanuit internetcafés spam-mails de wereld in sturen, hij verlangt naar een onbekende vrouw die hij in de bus heeft gezien en hij is getuige van het tragische lot van een jongen die op een lokale markt wordt beschuldigd van diefstal. Hij ontmoet er oude vrienden, een ex-vriendin en zijn familie en gaandeweg wordt hij weer onderdeel van het creatieve, tegenstrijdige leven in Lagos. Langzamerhand verzoent hij zich met de grootse veranderingen die in zijn land maar ook in hemzelf hebben plaatsgevonden. In zijn kenmerkende, kristalheldere stijl heeft Teju Cole met Elke dag is voor de dief een zeer persoonlijk boek geschreven, over literatuur, het geheugen, kunst en reizen. Teju Cole (1975) groeide op in Nigeria en verhuisde in 1992 naar de Verenigde Staten. Hij is schrijver, fotograaf en kunsthistoricus. Hij debuteerde met Open stad, dat werd bekroond met de PEN/Hemingway Award.

Un joven médico regresa a su Lagos natal tras vivir quince años en Nueva York. La Nigeria de su infancia ya no existe; en su lugar encuentra una ciudad ganada por el consumismo, el desdén y la globalización. El espíritu del siglo XXI impregna el globo entero y de Manhattan a Lagos el mundo es una máquina bien engrasada, siempre y cuando se disponga de dinero para pagar, ya sea el soborno del funcionario de la administración estadounidense que expide un visado, o el extra que el empleado de la gasolinera nigeriana se cobra por rellenar el depósito. "Cada día es del ladrón" es una fábula sobre la corrupción moral y política, un relato conmovedor sobre el significado de volver al hogar. "Teju Cole es un representante clave de la gran nueva narrativa". Enrique Vila-Matas, "El País" "El hallazgo del detalle significativo hace de Cole uno de los escritores más inmediatamente reconocibles de la literatura estadounidense contemporánea". Patricio Pron, "El Boomeran(g)" "Cole pinta y colorea una fábula sobre la corrupción moral y política en Nigeria". Antonio Bordón, "La Provincia" "El retrato que ofrece es tan emocional que resulta imposible permanecer impasible". Eric Gras, "El Periódico Mediterráneo" "La cuestión identitaria vuelve a ser fundamental: el narrador certifica una y otra vez que la frustración estructura el retorno imposible a Nigeria". Jordi Nopca, "Ara" "Un retrato de Nigeria divertido, mordaz y triste a la vez, donde el narrador pasa de la inicial e inevitable ira que provoca la situación lamentable del país a un amor tan profundo como desencantado. Teju Cole es uno de los escritores más brillantes de su generación". Salman Rushdie

Julius, un joven psiquiatra nigeriano residente en un hospital neoyorquino, deambula por las calles de Manhattan. Caminar sin rumbo se convierte en una necesidad que le brinda la oportunidad de dejar la mente libre en un devaneo entre la literatura, el arte o la música, sus relaciones personales, el pasado y el presente. En sus paseos explora cada rincón de la ciudad. Pero Julius no sólo recorre un espacio físico, sino también aquel en el que se entretejen otras muchas voces que le interpelan. Ciudad abierta, novela bellísima y envolvente, supone el descubrimiento de una voz tan original y sutil como extraordinaria. "Esta es una novela distinta. Es distinta en estructura, en la amplicación del punto de vista y en su escritura, lo cual es como decir que estamos ante un libro extraordinariamente sugestivo y un verdadero derroche de arrojo literario. Ciudad abierta representa un logro memorable". José María Guelbenzu, El País

Julius, een jonge psychiater van Nigeriaanse afkomst, maakt schijnbaar doelloze wandelingen door de straten van Manhattan. Dit doet hij echter met een reden: de wandelingen geven hem de mogelijkheid om aan het keurslijf van zijn werk te ontsnappen en zijn leven te overdenken. Zoals de breuk met zijn vriendin, zijn getroebleerde verleden en ook zijn onzekere toekomst. Hij loopt door de drukke stad, waar de vele anonieme gezichten die hij langs ziet komen zijn gevoelens van eenzaamheid alleen maar versterken. Op straat ontmoet hij mensen uit verschillende culturen en klassen die hem verrijken met inzichten. Deze zal hij gebruiken tijdens zijn reis - een reis die hem naar Brussel voert en terugbrengt naar het Nigeria van zijn jeugd. En naar de diep verborgen delen van zijn ziel. Open stad is een beklemmende roman over identiteit, ras, vrijheid, verlies, isolatie en overgave. Een boek waarin het lot van de immigrant in het hedendaagse New York op fantastische wijze wordt beschreven. Open stad is bekroond met de presitigieuze PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Fiction

A expressão "cidade aberta" pode referir-se a uma cidade ocupada pelo exército invasor durante uma guerra e poupada em troca de rendição. A Nova York pós-Onze de Setembro percebida por Julius, um jovem psiquiatra residente no hospital Columbia Presbyterian, carrega em si um pouco dessa atmosfera - é uma cidade de traumas não admitidos e muita solidão. Julius faz longas caminhadas após o trabalho, como contraponto a seus atarefados dias no hospital. Além da "evocação de liberdade", esses passeios são o motor de suas reflexões e reminiscências, pelas quais ele relembra sua história, sua infância na Nigéria, sua condição de imigrante, e também a história da própria cidade em que vive e dos habitantes dela. Teju Cole parece transferir muito de si ao protagonista do romance - ambos são nigerianos que saíram de sua terra natal para estudar nos Estados Unidos. Além de escritor, Cole é também fotógrafo, e a observação precisa e o zelo com os detalhes parecem ser seu principal legado a Julius. Numa sucessão de meditações, informações históricas, reflexões sobre música e literatura, e nítidas descrições das paisagens urbanas - motivos que renderam a Cole muitas comparações a W. G. Sebald -, o personagem estabelece uma espécie de diário não cronológico de suas reminiscências nigerianas e nova-iorquinas.

Tunde e Sadako, sangue nigeriano lui e sangue giapponese lei. Il Museum of Fine Arts di Boston, con i suoi splendidi tesori e la sua raffinata ipocrisia, e Bamako, la capitale del Mali, con la musica vivificante delle notti calde. Lagos nelle sue mille incarnazioni e Lagos come collettività vista dall''alto, terra solcata dall''acqua e acqua insidiata dalla terra. Nel nuovo romanzo di Teju Cole la parola «tremore» non compare, ma i sussulti del terremoto si vedono e si sentono ovunque: negli edifici sbriciolati di Haiti e dell''Iran, nella relazione vacillante tra Tunde e Sadako, ma anche nel frammentarsi della voce narrante e nel crollo delle divisioni tra i generi letterari. «Un trionfo di invenzione narrativa che abbraccia la letteratura, la pittura, la musica, la fotografia, la questione razziale, il passare del tempo e l''istinto di sopravvivenza degli esseri umani». «The Guardian» Tunde è un fotografo che vive da quasi trent''anni negli Stati Uniti. Le sue radici, però, sono nella caotica e contraddittoria Lagos, terra di martiri e peccatori, di progresso e superstizione. Sposato e senza figli, insegna a Harvard, il tempio della cultura americana, e si è fatto un nome nell''elitario mondo dell''arte, ma resta un nero in un mondo a misura di bianchi. E da outsider vede quello che sfugge a chi non conosce, né riconosce, che il proprio punto di vista: il sottinteso nell''espressione «terribile tragedia», il passato schiavista in uno dei campus piú prestigiosi d''America, la violenza dietro le opere d''arte custodite con ogni cura in eleganti musei. Il razzismo è ovunque. Spiega anche perché Samuel Little, il serial killer che ha mietuto piú vittime nel Paese, risulti praticamente sconosciuto al pubblico: si accaniva quasi esclusivamente su donne nere. In Tremore Teju Cole mescola voci, temi e generi, tratteggiando una modernità in cui la narrazione del mondo propagandata dalla ricca America bianca vacilla sotto i colpi di una logica ferrea.

Met deze verzameling van meer dan vijftig essays over politiek, fotografie, reizen, geschiedenis en literatuur, maakt Teju Cole eens te meer duidelijk tot de krachtigste en origineelste stemmen van vandaag te horen. Pagina na pagina ontdekt hij nieuwe manieren om te schrijven over kunst, mensen en historische momenten, met onderwerpen als Virginia Woolf, Shakespeare, W.G. Sebald, Instagram, Barack Obama en Boko Haram. De verhalen in Vertrouwde en vreemde dingen zijn overtuigend en erudiet en bieden de lezer de kans om deel uit te maken van Teju Cole''s universum en zijn haast grenzeloze enthousiasme en interesse voor de meest uiteenlopende onderwerpen.

Voici le récit d’un retour au pays difficile et émouvant. Le narrateur, Nigérian résidant à New York depuis quinze ans, part pour trois semaines à Lagos, sa ville natale. En 27 chapitres, il rend compte de ce voyage au cours duquel il tâche de renouer avec l’univers étourdissant de la mégapole africaine. Teju Cole capte les scènes qui ponctuent le séjour de son personnage et les traduit avec justesse : les pots-de-vin exigés par l’employé du consulat à New York, les périples en danfos, ces minibus jaunes décrépis et bondés qui fusent dans les rues de Lagos, le châtiment des voleurs à la tir au marché. Des photographies prises par Teju Cole lors de son séjour à Lagos amplifient l’expressivité du texte, servi par une langue précise et mélancolique. Écrivain, historien de l’art et photographe, Teju Cole est né en 1975 aux États-Unis et a grandi au Nigeria, d’où ses parents sont originaires. Il vit aujourd’hui à Brooklyn et est critique de photographie pour le New York Times Magazine. Il a également écrit pour le New York Times, the New Yorker, Granta et Brick. Avant Chaque jour appartient au voleur, Livre de l’année 2014 pour le New York Times et le Telegraph, Open City (Denoël 2012, 10/18 2014) a été récompensé par le PEN/Hemingway Award.