Floating in a Most Peculiar Way

By Louis Chude-Sokei,

Book cover of Floating in a Most Peculiar Way: A Memoir

Book description

The astonishing journey of a bright, utterly displaced boy, from the short-lived African nation of Biafra, to Jamaica, to the harshest streets of Los Angeles—a searing memoir that adds fascinating depth to the coming-to-America story

The first time Chude-Sokei realizes that he is “first son of the first son” of…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked Floating in a Most Peculiar Way as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I have a fascination with countries that don’t fully exist and have visited a few myself. So when I learned that Chude-Sokei was from a country that really no longer exists, I was hooked. The country in question was not one I recognized. Biafra was a short-lived African state that declared independence from Nigeria in 1967. 

What kept me reading the book though was the humor Chude-Sokei uses to describe his unique situation as the “first son of the first son” of a leader of a country that was “killed” in 1970, as his mother puts it. Chude-Sokei’s tales of…

If you love Floating in a Most Peculiar Way...

Ad

Book cover of Tap Dancing on Everest: A Young Doctor's Unlikely Adventure

Tap Dancing on Everest By Mimi Zieman,

Tap Dancing on Everest, part coming-of-age memoir, part true-survival adventure story, is about a young medical student, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor raised in N.Y.C., who battles self-doubt to serve as the doctor—and only woman—on a remote Everest climb in Tibet.

The team attempts a new route up…

Want books like Floating in a Most Peculiar Way?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Floating in a Most Peculiar Way.

Browse books like Floating in a Most Peculiar Way

Book cover of Lightning Flowers: My Journey to Uncover the Cost of Saving a Life
Book cover of Loving before Loving: A Marriage in Black and White
Book cover of The Year We Disappeared: A Father-Daughter Memoir

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,605

readers submitted
so far, will you?

Ad

📚 If you like Floating in a Most Peculiar Way, you might also like...

Book cover of The Truth About Unringing Phones

The Truth About Unringing Phones By Lara Lillibridge,

When Lara was four years old, her father moved from Rochester, New York, to Anchorage, Alaska, a distance of over 4,000 miles. She spent her childhood chasing after him, flying a quarter of the way around the world to tug at the hem of his jacket.

Now that he is…

Book cover of The Pianist's Only Daughter: A Memoir

The Pianist's Only Daughter By Kathryn Betts Adams,

The Pianist's Only Daughter is a frank, humorous, and heartbreaking exploration of aging in an aging expert's own family.

Social worker and gerontologist Kathryn Betts Adams spent decades negotiating evolving family dynamics with her colorful and talented parents: her mother, an English scholar and poet, and her father, a pianist…

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in immigrants, Los Angeles, and California?

Immigrants 185 books
Los Angeles 363 books
California 403 books