What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky

By Lesley Nneka Arimah,

Book cover of What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky: Stories

Book description

A PBS NewsHour/New York Times Book Club Pick

A NATIONAL BOOK FOUNDATION "5 UNDER 35" HONOREE

WINNER OF THE 2017 KIRKUS PRIZE

WINNER OF THE NYPL'S YOUNG LIONS FICTION AWARD

FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE LEONARD PRIZE

SHORTLISTED FOR THE ASPEN WORDS LITERARY PRIZE

A dazzlingly accomplished debut…

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Why read it?

3 authors picked What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I am in love with Lesley’s writing, and everyone should be. Period. I will recommend this book a thousand times. The first time I read it, I was left feeling hopeful–hopeful that stories are soft, intentional, deliberate, magical things that can shift people and places enough to make a difference or change minds. With each story in this collection, Lesley peels away the layers (sometimes softly, sometimes jarring) of lives, relationships, and women.

From Ama's list on the inner lives of women.

I loved this book because it is a collection of bizarre, weird, surreal, fabulist tales that tripped me up each time I thought I knew where it was going. The twists! The turns! The things that had no business existing in anyone's mind, let alone in print. Not one dud in this collection of fourteen stories. 

Also, I learnt that I could applaud while puking up my lunch. That was fun.

From Chikodili's list on proving Nigerians are secret weirdos.

I fell in love with short stories in my preteen years. Chinua Achebe, Kola Onadipe, and Cyprian Ekwensi were my fictional gods until the passage of time brought the creative wonder woman, Alice Munro, into my life. 

However, as a Nigerian, it was in Lesley Nneka Arimah’s narrative universe that I first saw myself as a speaking, living, welcome presence in the crazy world we live in.

I’m weird, like the characters in this collection. There was a time when fitting-in was a big question for me, and like the characters, I felt troubled by the ugly truth that may…

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