Hangman
ABOUT
THE BOOK
A man returns home to sub-Saharan Africa after twenty-six years living in exile in America. When he arrives, he finds that he doesn’t recognize the country or anyone in it. Thankfully, someone at the airport knows him-a man who calls him brother. As they travel to this man’s house, the purpose of his visit comes into focus: he is here to find his real brother, who is dying. Hangman is his tragicomic journey through homecoming and loss. It is a hilarious and twisted odyssey, peopled by phantoms and tricksters, aid workers and taxi drivers, the relatives and riddles that lead this man along a circuitous path towards the truth.
NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS
A truly impressive debut combines a haunting Kafkaesque atmosphere with the black experience in–and outside of– America. Binyam’s unique voice conjures the strangeness and absurdity of contemporary life, finding the intersections of colonialism, imperialism, everyday life, psychology and memory are not so easily dissected or examined.