Bingo row 1- review
I’ve been a fan of Nnendi Okorafor for a while, but her books have always been vaguely unpleasant. Not because they’re bad, but because they hit something in my psyche that is very tender. Every time I finish one of her works, I say that’s the last one. I don’t have time to need recovery from a book. And then, she draws me back in.
Death of the Author came out earlier this year and everyone loved it. I’ve seen Okorafor’s work coming out with a lot of positive press, but it never seemed so widespread. Maybe it was good PR or maybe this book had universal appeal and wouldn’t give me a hangover. There was only one way to find out. I also wanted to buy it since it is a pretty book.
Death of the Author by a Nigerian American author is a book about a Nigerian American author and her book. Zelu is a disabled intellectual from a close loving family of abled intellectuals and she’s frustrated. She lost her job, she can’t walk, she has to move back in with her parents, and her career as a writer is going nowhere. So she writes a book about rusted robots and everything changes for the better (technically). The book is a hit. She gets a movie deal, respect, fans, her own place, and an exoskeleton. Except she hates the Americanization of her book, and her family still doesn’t get her, and she can’t get the sequel out. But her boyfriend is pretty good and she’s got an exoskeleton that lets her walk.
Simultaneously, we see the book she wrote. Two robots in Africa on opposite sides of a robot war become friends with each other via the last human on Earth. Together they try to stop a greater threat to the world than internal robot wars. Do they succeed? I sometimes forget people don’t like spoilers, and that tendency to forget is why I avoid discussing media.
Was it a good book? Yes. All of Okorafor’s work is good, she’s a good writer and good storyteller. Her works have interesting and thoughtful characters and plots. This was no exception.