%0 Journal Article %1 noauthororeditor %A Singh, Dheeraj Kumar | Dr. Arun %D 2022 %J CENTRAL ASIAN JOURNAL OF LITERATURE, PHILOSOPHY AND CULTURE %K Nigerian acclaimed homecoming society %T Diasporic Review of Every Day is for the Thief by Teju Cole %U https://cajlpc.centralasianstudies.org/index.php/CAJLPC/article/view/344 %X Every Day Is for the Thief review – return to Lagos Written before his acclaimed Open City, Teju Cole’s story of homecoming exposes Nigerian corruption Teju Cole's Every Day Is for the Thief opens as it means to go on, with a jeremiad against the corruption and sense of hopelessness in which Nigerian society wallows and which it seems incapable of escaping. The unnamed narrator has to pay a bribe, right under a sign that says, "Don’t give bribes", as he applies for a visa in the Nigerian consulate in New York. The bribe-givers know they shouldn't give bribes, the bribe-takers know they shouldn't take them, but both are helpless, it seems, against an almost metaphysical force that drives them on this path, with no end in sight. At the embassy a man says over and over, as if trying to convince him, "This should be a time of joy. You know. Going home should be a thing of joy." The narrator is returning to Nigeria after 15 years of absence; he left, we find out much later in the book, under a cloud, after his father's death, and after a spat with his mother. He is studying psychiatry in New York; he also aspires to be a writer. He is coming home to reconnect with the past, and to see if he wants to stay. It is through this scout's-eye view, always prospecting for a congenial and habitable environment, that the narrator appraises Lagos, and makes his judgment; and it is understandable that often the judgment is harsh. Every Day Is for the Thief was originally published before Cole's critically successful Open City, and some of the narrative threads run through both books. Indeed, Every Day appears to be a prequel to Open City – both narrators went to the same military secondary school, both grew up in Lagos, both left for New York after their father's death, both are studying medicine. Although it is not stated anywhere by the publisher or the author, it is logical to assume the two narrators are one person.

@article{noauthororeditor, abstract = {Every Day Is for the Thief review – return to Lagos Written before his acclaimed Open City, Teju Cole’s story of homecoming exposes Nigerian corruption Teju Cole's Every Day Is for the Thief opens as it means to go on, with a jeremiad against the corruption and sense of hopelessness in which Nigerian society wallows and which it seems incapable of escaping. The unnamed narrator has to pay a bribe, right under a sign that says, "Don’t give bribes", as he applies for a visa in the Nigerian consulate in New York. The bribe-givers know they shouldn't give bribes, the bribe-takers know they shouldn't take them, but both are helpless, it seems, against an almost metaphysical force that drives them on this path, with no end in sight. At the embassy a man says over and over, as if trying to convince him, "This should be a time of joy. You know. Going home should be a thing of joy." The narrator is returning to Nigeria after 15 years of absence; he left, we find out much later in the book, under a cloud, after his father's death, and after a spat with his mother. He is studying psychiatry in New York; he also aspires to be a writer. He is coming home to reconnect with the past, and to see if he wants to stay. It is through this scout's-eye view, always prospecting for a congenial and habitable environment, that the narrator appraises Lagos, and makes his judgment; and it is understandable that often the judgment is harsh. Every Day Is for the Thief was originally published before Cole's critically successful Open City, and some of the narrative threads run through both books. Indeed, Every Day appears to be a prequel to Open City – both narrators went to the same military secondary school, both grew up in Lagos, both left for New York after their father's death, both are studying medicine. Although it is not stated anywhere by the publisher or the author, it is logical to assume the two narrators are one person.}, added-at = {2022-08-18T13:17:15.000+0200}, author = {Singh, Dheeraj Kumar | Dr. Arun}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2c4c85b2bbb6b2b1a983b8e58d2a07bb9/centralasian_20}, interhash = {62157397c86705e13ebbc6574a77a1a1}, intrahash = {c4c85b2bbb6b2b1a983b8e58d2a07bb9}, journal = {CENTRAL ASIAN JOURNAL OF LITERATURE, PHILOSOPHY AND CULTURE}, keywords = {Nigerian acclaimed homecoming society}, timestamp = {2022-08-18T13:17:15.000+0200}, title = {Diasporic Review of Every Day is for the Thief by Teju Cole }, url = {https://cajlpc.centralasianstudies.org/index.php/CAJLPC/article/view/344}, year = 2022 }