At this point, you really shouldn't need my recommendation to get a copy of Americanah by Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. The 2013 novel has reached a level of cultural saturation that includes endorsements from such tastemakers as Beyoncé and Lupita Nyong’o (People Magazine's Most Beautiful for 2012 and 2014, respectively), as well as critical acclaim from the usual suspects (National Book Critics Circle Award Winner, New York Times Book Review 10 Best of 2013, and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction). Perhaps most significant in the current state of women's roles in literary fiction, it has a text-only cover.
The following round-up of web sources can be enjoyed alongside or following a reading of the novel:
Beyoncé - Flawless (Audio)
Adichie had already made a splash in the literary world, but when Beyoncé's most recent album dropped in December of 2013, the rest of the world quickly learned her name, as the track "Flawless" features excerpts from Adichie's excellent TedTalk, "We Should All Be Feminists." The song is excellent, the talk is even better, and neither one will spoil the book for you.
Between The Lines With Zadie Smith (Video)
Back in March, Adichie sat down with novelist/essayist/future People Magazine’s Most Beautiful People cover model Zadie Smith for an hour-long interview, complete with audience questions for both authors, at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. They discuss all of Adichie’s novels, so don’t watch until you’ve finished Americanah to avoid spoilers. There are some Half of a Yellow Sun/ Purple Hibiscus spoilers as well, but it is really worth watching, so don’t put it off until you’ve read the entire Adichie canon.
PostBourgie & CodeSwitch (Blogs)
Ifemelu, the protagonist of Americanah, moves from Nigeria to the US as a student and starts blogging about issues of race; these blog posts are interspersed throughout the novel and provide a very effective break in the narrative. It’s a particularly impressive exercise in narrative structure--writing a good novel is not easy, and writing a good blog post is not easy, and writing many good blog posts within a good novel is especially not easy. Adichie pulls it off with incredible grace, and as someone who aspires to be a good blogger, it’s particularly infuriating. That said, when Ifemelu returns to Nigeria, she continues to keep up with discussions about race in the US via her “favorite” blog, PostBourgie; also recommended is founder Gene Denby’s twitter feed, the excellent NPR race blog CodeSwitch, to which he is a contributor. None of this will spoil the book, although PostBourgie does a Scandal episode recap, so consider yourself warned if you’re behind.
Arise Entertainment 360 (Video)
Finally, a very brief pop culture tidbit; speaking of Lupita Nyong’o, Adichie recently made statements in an interview regarding the actress’ interest in acquiring/producing/starring in a film adaptation of Americanah. There hasn’t been an official statement made on this yet, but it seems unlikely Adichie would discuss it without it being a very likely possibility. This would combine the genius and creativity of two of the most talked-about African women on Earth, and would make me so very happy.
Further Reading
If you’ve already read Americanah and enjoyed it as much as I did, I highly recommend the following authors:
Zadie Smith If you’re still reading this, I think you already know who she is, but neverthless, for the uninformed, Smith is also a brilliant young writer of color whose novels include similar explorations of the race and immigration themes present in Americanah. Plus, Smith loves and admires Adichie’s work, and they are both notably stylish authors. Don’t just read the major novels- she has a trove of impressive essay work, including this profile on Jay-Z.
Teju Cole I will admit that I haven’t had the chance to read his work yet, especially since I’m still deep into #ReadWomen2014, but his latest novel Every Day Is for the Thief has gotten overwhelmingly positive reviews, and his debut novel Open City won all the prizes. These are both very much on my radar, and might even be read at midnight on January 1, 2015. Both Adichie and Cole are variations of Nigerian-American and this informs both their writing.
Taiye Selasi another writer on my radar who I have yet to read; Selasi is Ghanian/Nigerian and was raised/educated in the UK; her most famous short story, “The Sex Lives of African Girls” was written under the guidance of Toni Morrison, and her debut novel Ghana Must Go was a neighbor to Americanah on many of the 2013 Best of Lists.
Editor's Note: Enhanced Reading is a round-up of my favorite content from around the web on a particular book or author.