Okri has written a diverse collection of stories that will bring you out of your everyday life. The Booker Prize winning author sprinkles ghosts and magical realism throughout stories set in Nigeria.

I received the ARC from publishers, Akashic Books for review. I also listened to the short stories on audiobook via Scribd, narrated by the author, Ben Okri. The book was published February 2, 2021, (216 pages).

This is my first reading of Ben Okri, and I also have his novel, The Freedom Artist (published in 2019), which I have not read yet. When I won an ARC of this publication, I felt it was no time then the present to read one of his books.

Since he published his first novel, Flowers and Shadows (1980), Okri has risen to an international acclaim, and he often is described as one of Africa's leading writers. His reputation as an author was secured when his novel The Famished Road won the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1991, making him the youngest ever winner of the prize at the age of 32.

The Boko Haram (1) was a shocker. A bomb is strapped to a little boy, and lead to the middle of the market square!

A Prayer for the Living, everyone in the town is dead, his brother, his lover inside an unfinished school. Amazing! My favorite stories are; In the Ghetto, and I personally related to The Masters Mirror #2 (page 123).

‘An avid collector of books, with over two thousand volumes on the shelves of his accommodations. Hockley died in 1885 of what the doctors called “natural decay” and “exhaustion.” The irony is that at the end he suffered from poor eyesight.’

Most of Okri’s stories are steeped in art, and the city or towns culture. Most of the stories depict Africans in communion with spirits. Some of the stories were very short and some were long. I enjoyed listening to Ben Okri narrate, because he has a melodic cadence, with a Nigerian accent to envision the scenes, scents, and emotions of the characters. I was disconnected with the stories, not fully understanding what was happening, not seeing what the author was writing to his audience, but his descriptions were beautiful and captivating.

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#APrayerForTheLiving ( )

This is an excellent collection of short (some very short) stories. It's an interesting mix of realism, magical realism and surrealism. Each story creates its own mood and they all have a sense of mystery that calls for close reading. Because of this, I haven't yet read them all though I received then book in January. I'm savoring it, bit by bit! ( )

This short story collection feels like a series of dreams, some full of wonder and discovery, unexpected twists of fate, and some read like nightmares, sharper and more terrifying than life. The stories travel through the world, set in London and Istanbul, Africa and the Americas.

There's a story about Don Quixote in an African printer's shop, a story about a father and his two sons trying to get their broken-down car home in Lagos, several brief, horrifying stories involving the Boko Haram, and a fairy tale involving an enchanted doll house. A London detective uses his intuition to find the culprit, a lonely man dreams of Istanbul, a curious man witnesses the power of a magical mirror held by a cabal of Rosicrucians and, in the titular story, the living envy the dead.

I enjoyed my first encounter with this Booker Prize-winning author. ( )

This is a magical, mystical collection of short stories. I was mesmerized by Okri's prose and the plots of these tales which delve into the glimmering realms of dual realities, perspectives on truth, metaphysics, and ideological complacency. Okri's last story and poem allow the reader to drift into contemplation on the many methods of reading, the value of reading, and the beauty of reading and writing. There is a timelessness and flexibility of place in Okri's writing which is profoundly thought provoking. What a deeply felt pleasure to read this collection! ( )