A review by gracefullypunk
Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood by Alexandra Fuller

5.0

Loved it. Fuller really paints a picture of this region of Africa, but she never gets overly sentimental or sappy. It's obvious she loves it, yet with some of the tales she tells, the reader is left with the impression that you really had to be there to understand such love (no, that's not a bad thing). She weaves in and out of time, so you get characters' personalities before you quite understand why they're the way they are -- yet she doesn't go overboard with making connections and spelling out any sort of psycho-analysis. She also is blunt with details about racism, yet never makes excuses or apologies. All in all, you are simply left with a vivid portrait of what a childhood in this region was like, without anyone spelling out the history or trying to deny/apologize for one family's part in it.