Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight
An African Childhood
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4.2 • 266 Ratings
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A worthy heir to Isak Dinesen and Beryl Markham, Alexandra Fuller shares visceral memories of her childhood in Africa, and of her headstrong, unforgettable mother.
“This is not a book you read just once, but a tale of terrible beauty to get lost in over and over.”—Newsweek
“By turns mischievous and openhearted, earthy and soaring . . . hair-raising, horrific, and thrilling.”—The New Yorker
Though it is a diary of an unruly life in an often inhospitable place, Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight is suffused with Fuller’s endearing ability to find laughter, even when there is little to celebrate. Fuller’s debut is unsentimental and unflinching but always captivating. In wry and sometimes hilarious prose, she stares down disaster and looks back with rage and love at the life of an extraordinary family in an extraordinary time.
From 1972 to 1990, Alexandra Fuller—known to friends and family as Bobo—grew up on several farms in southern and central Africa. Her father joined up on the side of the white government in the Rhodesian civil war, and was often away fighting against the powerful black guerilla factions. Her mother, in turn, flung herself at their African life and its rugged farm work with the same passion and maniacal energy she brought to everything else. Though she loved her children, she was no hand-holder and had little tolerance for neediness. She nurtured her daughters in other ways: She taught them, by example, to be resilient and self-sufficient, to have strong wills and strong opinions, and to embrace life wholeheartedly, despite and because of difficult circumstances. And she instilled in Bobo, particularly, a love of reading and of storytelling that proved to be her salvation.
Alexandra Fuller writes poignantly about a girl becoming a woman and a writer against a backdrop of unrest, not just in her country but in her home. But Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight is more than a survivor’s story. It is the story of one woman’s unbreakable bond with a continent and the people who inhabit it, a portrait lovingly realized and deeply felt.
Praise for Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight
“Riveting . . . [full of] humor and compassion.”—O: The Oprah Magazine
“The incredible story of an incredible childhood.”—The Providence Journal
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A classic is born in this tender, intensely moving and even delightful journey through a white African girl's childhood. Born in England and now living in Wyoming, Fuller was conceived and bred on African soil during the Rhodesian civil war (1971 1979), a world where children over five "learn how to load an FN rifle magazine, strip and clean all the guns in the house, and ultimately, shoot-to-kill." With a unique and subtle sensitivity to racial issues, Fuller describes her parents' racism and the wartime relationships between blacks and whites through a child's watchful eyes. Curfews and war, mosquitoes, land mines, ambushes and "an abundance of leopards" are the stuff of this childhood. "Dad has to go out into the bush... and find terrorists and fight them"; Mum saves the family from an Egyptian spitting cobra; they both fight "to keep one country in Africa white-run." The "A" schools ("with the best teachers and facilities") are for white children; "B" schools serve "children who are neither black nor white"; and "C" schools are for black children. Fuller's world is marked by sudden, drastic changes: the farm is taken away for "land redistribution"; one term at school, five white students are "left in the boarding house... among two hundred African students"; three of her four siblings die in infancy; the family constantly sets up house in hostile, desolate environments as they move from Rhodesia to Zambia to Malawi and back to Zambia. But Fuller's remarkable affection for her parents (who are racists) and her homeland (brutal under white and black rule) shines through. This affection, in spite of its subjects' prominent flaws, reveals their humanity and allows the reader direct entry into her world. Fuller's book has the promise of being widely read and remaining of interest for years to come. Photos not seen by PW. (On-sale Dec. 18)
Customer Reviews
A palatable post-colonial memoir, peppered with humour, heart, and a heuristic nostalgia.
Alexandra Fuller artfully articulates her memoir with poise, humour, and honesty, as she examines all that she is and all her family was. Set against the backdrop of the fragile sunset of the British Empire, Fuller’s recollection of the injustices of politics-of-place and time, of the pivotal moments in her youth, and the nature of relationships, is truly a story woven in a way that you can smell, taste, and feel. This is the story of one family’s journey that immerses & invests the reader. As we navigate the minefields of memory with Fuller, we see a wider story unfolding — as she comes of age, so too a weighing imperialistic mentality succumbs to its wounds and age; we witness these colourful characters through trial, triumph, and tragedy as their world is changed in such a profound way. Fuller’s humour, honesty, and palette of prose results in not only a great story, but a real modern rendition of an Out-of-Africanesque classic. On its cover, it’s a singular story, but at its core it is a story we can all relate to: who we are is rooted in where we come from, where we choose to go is effected by what we carry with us, and while we may be radically different on the outside, we are at our core, all part of a wider saga.
No Karen Blitsen
Disappointing & slow.
A Journey Home
A beautiful heart-felt love letter to her family and Africa, both the center of Fuller’s soul. And that alone would recommend this book, but read more slowly, a pain and sadness begins to percolate up from the cracks exploding, at times, with the searing truth. that War and abuse -one in the same- scar deep.
I suppose that books resonate for many reasons, but in this case, Fuller’s childhood filled with unbridled love for her home amidst chaos, land mines, insanity, war, and death seems eerily similar to any childhood filled with emotional land mines. For many, her words will resonate.