Reviews

Every Day Is for the Thief: Fiction by Teju Cole

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txmxy's review against another edition

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Read for teaching and don’t think it’s gripping enough at the start. The narrative is disjointed, though interesting.

kaph's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

reflections on going back home and to one which is alien to what you're used to. I could relate to some things and was interesting to see the experience being written down. Every chapter is a short impression on one or the other aspect. I found these impressions quite effective, despite or due to their simplicity. The pictures where interesting, but I felt they were a bit lacking and not really contributing much to the storytelling, but just there. I also felt the rhetoric to be, at times, a bit semplicistic or naive. Overall a nice read, though not ambitious.

buttercupita's review against another edition

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4.0

This is a very spare but powerfully written novel (memoir?) of a Nigerian man's return to the place he was raised. Each chapter sheds light on a different aspect of life in Lagos, and the narrator does not pull punches on the problems of violence, corruption, poverty, and ignorance (sometimes willful) he sees around him. Nonetheless, there are things he loves, and his writing in places is absolutely luminous. Best of all, our narrator remains a somewhat mysterious figure, so that you continue to wonder about the book even after you've finished.

ayotomi's review against another edition

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informative reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

juniper77's review against another edition

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3.5

It's crazy that things are pretty the same, 25 years later.
Kind of an emotional read.

loreads's review

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4.0

I loved Cole's tone and writing style. He is observant, contemplative, and clear. Even though there wasn't really a plot to this stream of consciousness book I still wanted to know what the narrator was up to and just curious about his pov of Lagos after 15 years of living in the USA. I certainly look forward to reading Cole's other work.