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In 2005 Uzodinma Iweala stunned readers and critics alike with Beasts of No Nation, his debut novel about child soldiers in West Africa. Now his return to Africa has produced Our Kind of People, a non-fiction account of the AIDS crisis every bit as startling and original. HIV/AIDS has been reported as one of the most destructive diseases in recent memory—tearing apart communities and ostracizing the afflicted. But the emphasis placed on death, destruction, and despair hardly captures the many and varied effects of the epidemic, or the stories of the extraordinary people who live and die under its watch.
Our Kind of People opens our minds to these stories, introducing a new set of voices and altering the way we speak and think about disease. Iweala embarks on a remarkable journey through his native Nigeria, meeting individuals and communities that are struggling daily to understand both the impact and meaning of HIV/AIDS. He speaks with people from all walks of life—the ill and the healthy, doctors, nurses, truck drivers, sex workers, shopkeepers, students, parents, and children. Their testimonies are by turns uplifting, alarming, humorous, and surprising, and always unflinchingly candid. Integrating his own experiences with these voices, Iweala creates at once a deeply personal exploration of life, love, and connection in the face of disease, and an incisive critique of our existing ideas of health and happiness.
Beautifully written and heartbreakingly honest, Our Kind of People goes behind the headlines of an unprecedented epidemic to show the real lives it affects, illuminating the scope of the crisis and a continent's valiant struggle.
Uzodinma Iweala is the author of Beasts of No Nation, which won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the New York Public Library Young Lions Award, and the Sue Kaufman Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 2007 he was selected as one of Granta's Best Young American Novelists. A graduate of Harvard University and the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, he lives in New York City and Abuja, Nigeria.
Author biography courtesy of HarperCollins.
"I'm really very silly, and also probably very easily amused -- though I may not seem that way when you meet me."
"I design clothes as a hobby. I started designing Nigerian-inspired formalwear because of a date I took to my junior prom in high school, who proceeded to tell me that she was going to hang out with an ex-boyfriend at a club after the dance instead of with me. She left me with all of her bags and didn't even call to say thank you when I dropped them off at her house. I spent $120 renting a tux for the night -- and after that I said, never again will I rent a tux. Now I design my own formal wear and other stuff. I also design dresses as well. I have them made in Nigeria."
"I like to fall asleep on the floor -- as long as it's carpeted. This is probably because I tend to read and write on the floor. A comfortable bed is also a wonderful thing, but wow, can a nap on the floor do wonders for your back, your day, your creativity!"
"I have two great parents and three incredible siblings -- an older sister who's in med school, and two younger brothers in college -- they put out a rap album when they were 14 and 11. Demolition was the name of the group, and the album was called TNT."
"I play jazz piano and the saxophone. I really love photography and like to take pictures. Good ways to unwind: listening to really good music of any genre in the dark -- either alone or in good company."
"I like to take Milo -- my family's the-year-old basenji and the greatest dog alive -- for walks along the C&O Canal and the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., which is really beautiful at any time of the year. I occasionally go for runs -- and by occasionally, I mean almost never. "
"I would like at some point in time to be a doctor involved in health in the developing world."
Overview
In 2005 Uzodinma Iweala stunned readers and critics alike with Beasts of No Nation, his debut novel about child soldiers in West Africa. Now his return to Africa has produced Our Kind of People, a non-fiction account of the AIDS crisis every bit as startling and original. HIV/AIDS has been reported as one of the most destructive diseases in recent memory—tearing apart communities and ostracizing the afflicted. But the emphasis placed on death, destruction, and despair hardly captures the many and varied effects of the epidemic, or the stories of the extraordinary people who live and die under its watch.
Our Kind ...