The Thing Around Your Neck

by Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi

• ISBN13: 9780307455918
• ISBN10: 0307455912
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-06-01
• Publisher: Vintage

About This Book

The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a collection of twelve riveting short stories that explore the intricate ties between men and women, parents and children, Africa and the United States. Published on June 1, 2010, by Vintage Books, this book delves into themes of culture, identity, and the human struggle to reconcile different worlds.

Who Uses It?

Primarily, this book is used by students and educators in literature and creative writing courses at the college and university levels. It is also a valuable resource for anyone interested in exploring the complexities of human relationships and cultural intersections. The book's themes and characters resonate with readers who appreciate nuanced storytelling and insightful explorations of identity.

History and Editions

The Thing Around Your Neck has been a significant addition to literary fiction since its publication. The book has been praised for its searing and profound stories, suffused with beauty, sorrow, and longing. This collection has been widely read and discussed in academic circles, making it a staple in many literature curricula.

Author and Other Works

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a renowned Nigerian author known for her powerful and evocative writing style. Her works often explore the experiences of women and the complexities of cultural identity. Some of her notable works include:

• Half of a Yellow Sun: A novel that explores the Biafran War and its impact on individuals.
• Americanah: A novel that delves into the experiences of a young Nigerian woman in the United States.
• Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions: A non-fiction work that offers practical advice on raising a feminist daughter.

Key Features

• Cultural Exploration: The book offers a rich exploration of cultural intersections between Africa and the United States.
• Emotional Wisdom: Adichie's signature emotional wisdom makes the characters and their stories deeply relatable.
• Thematic Depth: The stories cover themes such as identity, belonging, and the human condition.

Detailed Information

ISBNs and Formats

• Paperback: ISBN-13: 9780307455918
• Audiobook: ISBN-13: 9781524781729
• Hardcover: ISBN-13: 9780307272058

Publication Details

• Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
• Publication Date: June 1, 2010
• Number of Pages: 240
• Language: English

Other Editions and Formats

• Audiobook Edition: Published on January 31, 2017, with a duration of 411 minutes.
• Hardcover Edition: Published on June 16, 2009.

Related ISBNs:

• Audiobook Edition: ISBN-13: 9781524781729
• Hardcover Edition: ISBN-13: 9780307272058

This detailed information section provides a quick reference for all the available formats and sources for The Thing Around Your Neck, making it easier to find and access the book in the preferred format.

Author Biography

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie grew up in Nigeria. Her work has been translated into thirty languages and has appeared in various publications, including The O. Henry Prize Stories, 2003; The New Yorker; Granta; the Financial Times; and Zoetrope. Her most recent novel, Half of a Yellow Sun, won the Orange Broadband Prize and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award; it was a New York Times Notable Book and a People and Black Issues Book Review Best Book of the Year. Her first novel, Purple Hibiscus, won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award. A recipient of a 2008 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, she divides her time between the United States and Nigeria.


From the Hardcover edition.

Excerpts

CELL ONE

The first time our house was robbed, it was our neighbor Osita who climbed in through the dining room window and stole our TV, our VCR, and thePurple RainandThrillervideotapes my father had brought back from America. The second time our house was robbed, it was my brother Nnamabia who faked a break-in and stole my mother’s jewelry. It happened on a Sunday. My parents had traveled to our hometown, Mbaise, to visit our grandparents, so Nnamabia and I went to church alone. He drove my mother’s green Peugeot 504. We sat together in church as we usually did, but we did not nudge each other and stifle giggles about somebody’s ugly hat or threadbare caftan, because Nnamabia left without a word after about ten minutes. He came back just before the priest said, “The Mass is ended. Go in peace.” I was a little piqued. I imagined he had gone off to smoke and to see some girl, since he had the car to himself for once, but he could at least have told me where he was going. We drove home in silence and, when he parked in our long driveway, I stopped to pluck some ixora flowers while Nnamabia unlocked the front door. I went inside to find him standing still in the middle of the parlor.

“We’ve been robbed!” he said in English.

It took me a moment to understand, to take in the scattered room. Even then, I felt that there was a theatrical quality to the way the drawers were flung open, as if it had been done by somebody who wanted to make an impression on the discoverers. Or perhaps it was simply that I knew my brother so well. Later, when my parents came home and neighbors began to troop in to sayndo, and to snap their fingers and heave their shoulders up and down, I sat alone in my room upstairs and realized what the queasiness in my gut was: Nnamabia had done it, I knew. My father knew, too. He pointed out that the window louvers had been slipped out from the inside, rather than outside (Nnamabia was really much smarter than that; perhaps he had been in a hurry to get back to church before Mass ended), and that the robber knew exactly where my mother’s jewelry was—the left corner of her metal trunk. Nnamabia stared at my father with dramatic, wounded eyes and said, “I know I have caused you both terrible pain in the past, but I would never violate your trust like this.” He spoke English, using unnecessary words like “terrible pain” and “violate,” as he always did when he was defending himself. Then he walked out through the back door and did not come home that night. Or the next night. Or the night after. He came home two weeks later, gaunt, smelling of beer, crying, saying he was sorry and he had pawned the jewelry to the Hausa traders in Enugu and all the money was gone.

“How much did they give you for my gold?” my mother asked him. And when he told her, she placed both hands on her head and cried, “Oh! Oh!Chi m egbuo m!My God has killed me!” It was as if she felt that the least he could have done was get a good price. I wanted to slap her. My father asked Nnamabia to write a report: how he had sold the jewelry, what he had spent the money on, with whom he had spent it. I didn’t think Nnamabia would tell the truth, and I don’t think my father thought he would, either, but he liked reports, my professor father, he liked things written down and nicely documented. Besides, Nnamabia was seventeen, with a carefully tended beard. He was in that space between secondary school and university and was too old for caning. What else could my father have done? After Nnamabia wrote the report, my father filed it in the steel drawer in his study where he kept our school papers.

“That he could hurt his mother like this” was the last thing my father said, in a mutter.

But Nnamabia really hadn’t set out to hurt her. He did it becaus

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Excerpted from The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.