My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (novel)
"My Life in the Bush of Ghosts" is a novel by Nigerian author Amos Tutuola, and the namesake of the Brian Eno and David Byrne album of the same name.
Tutuola's second novel, the story follows an unnamed male protagonist going through many surreal experiences.[1] Elijah Wolfson writing for Time Magazine said that in the novel Tutuola "recontextualiz[ed] previously unrecorded west African mythology by imbuing it with symbols of what was at the time a new global modernity. Consider, for example, one of the key figures of the novel: the “television-handed ghostess,” [...] opening her hands and revealing TV screens on her palms showing footage of the narrator’s family and home village."[2]
Wolfson comments on the significance of this inspiration by stating "it’s a testament to his impact, as arguably the first international artist to form a new language by sampling the folk traditions of the global south and the modern imagery of the industrialized West."[2]
- ↑ Tutuola, Amos. My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. Faber & Faber, 1 July 2014.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Wolfson, Elijah. ““My Life in the Bush of Ghosts” Is on TIME’s List of the 100 Best Fantasy Books.” Time, 15 Oct. 2020, time.com/collection/100-best-fantasy-books/5898437/my-life-in-the-bush-of-ghosts/. Accessed 27 June 2024.