Chigozie Obioma · Back Bay Books (Little, Brown) · Paperback
Man Booker Prize Finalist · A New York Times Notable Book of the Year
Told by nine-year-old Benjamin, the youngest of four brothers, The Fishermen is a Cain-and-Abel story of an unforgettable Nigerian childhood. When their strict father leaves for work in a distant city, the boys seize the chance to skip school and go fishing at a forbidden river nearby. There, a madman convinces the eldest brother that he is destined to be killed by one of his siblings. What follows is an almost mythic event whose consequences — both tragic and redemptive — reach far beyond the lives of the family.
Seen through the fate of one household, this is an essential novel about Africa in all its contradictions — economic, political and religious — and in all its epic beauty.
Awards and honours
Man Booker Prize Finalist
Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction
Winner of the FT/OppenheimerFunds Emerging Voices Award for Fiction
Winner of the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work (Debut Author)
Finalist for the Guardian First Book Award, the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the Edinburgh International Book Festival First Book Award
One of the best books of the year: NPR, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The Economist and more
Praise
'Chigozie Obioma truly is the heir to Chinua Achebe' — New York Times Book Review
'Truly magnificent' — Eleanor Catton
'Rich and hypnotic' — NPR
'Entrancing' — Wall Street Journal
'Ingenious, subtle, ambitious' — Times Literary Supplement
'It just doesn't get better than this' — Alexandra Fuller
About the author
Chigozie Obioma was born in Akure, Nigeria. The Fishermen was his debut novel.
Edition details
Back Bay Books (Little, Brown) paperback · ISBN 9780316338356
Note: Contains violence and death within a family.
