In Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight, Alexandra Fuller remembers her African childhood with visceral authenticity. Though it is a diary of an unruly life in an often inhospitable place, it 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 … 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.
A worthy heir to Isak Dinesen and Beryl Markham, 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.
more
The setting itself makes for an exciting memoir. Alexandra Fuller grows up during the Rhodesian civil war of the 1970s, so in addition to the normal African excitement of snakes and wild animals, she deals with racism, terrorism, and besotted parents who drag her from Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) to Zambia to Malawi and back. What sets this book …
Author’s memories of growing up in post colonial Africa in an untraditional, eccentric family . Well written and made me go on to read her other books , all of which I enjoyed
One of my all-time favorites.
One of my favorite books! Funny, traffic and real written with enormous love and tenderness.
A searing, autobiographical work of astounding depth and heart. This book doesn’t pull any punches while describing being a young white girl growing up in war-torn Rhodesia as it transitions into Zimbabwe.
A well written memoir. Very different, unless you happened to have grown up as the child of ex patriots, alcoholics in war torn Africa in the 1970s and 1980s. Takes place in several different countries in southern Africa.
Great
At once humorous and heartbreaking, so real it aches — despite their flaws and deep prejudice, you can’t help but feel for this family amidst their hard grief, dreams, and struggle.
Outstanding, honest, raw
A very interesting book about growing up in Africa as a non-African. It was a little too long as I was ready for it to end before it did, but still enjoyable.
A good book of life in Africa during revolution and the aftermath of the struggles of adjusting to a country run by “blacks”. Interesting to observe the life of a child and her cultural beliefs received from her parents and other people of English descent.
Was not my favorite book and I found it hard to read.
Truly, one of my favorite books. An interesting look into a world not seen by many Americans.
An excellent read! A page turner about living in Zimbabwe during the white rule there. The characters are nuanced and show what life under Ian Smith’s government was like. Cannot recommend this book highly enough!
Loved this authentic memoir of a very unconventional childhood. I felt I got a great idea of what it’s like growing up in Africa.
a unique story of Africa by a very good writer
Brilliant and sensitive memoir, I loved it.
I so thoroughly enjoyed this book and hopefully can encourage others to read it. Amanda Fuller is a diamond in the rough!!! Her writing is just delightful to read, even when she is writing about the really bad times. Boy what a good book! I will see what else she has written. I’m sad that she has moved from Africa to the United States in …
I just felt like I was there! So well written and really transports you to country, year and time. I highly recommend to anyone who. Wants to know what life is like is Africa.
Loved it.