Beasts of No Nation

Agu is just a boy when war arrives at his village. His mother and sister are rescued by the UN, while he and his father remain to fight the rebels. 'Run!' shouts his father when the rebels arrive. And Agu does run. Straight into the rebels' path. In a vivid, sparkling voice, Agu tells the story of what happens to him next. His story is shocking and painful, and completely unforgettable. Beasts of No Nation gives us an extraordinary portrait of the chaos and violence of war. It is a gripping and remarkable debut.

“This is a work of visceral urgency and power: it heralds the arrival of a major talent”

Extraordinary ... you don't come across writing like this very often. - The Bookseller

- Amitav Ghosh

So scorched by loss and anger that it's hard to hold and so gripping in its sheer hopeless lifeforce that it's hard to put down. - Ali Smith, Guardian

A harrowing and compelling vision ... the narrator's voice is so authentic you have to check you are still reading fiction ... This is a novel which leaves an impression like a blood-soaked hand print, disturbing not only for the terror around this cleaving, pulverising slayer, but the terror turning to 'ennui' within him. To call it shocking would be to do it a disservice. To call the writing beautiful would hardly be praise. To call the book staggering would be an understatement - Waterstones Books Quarterly

The power of his material and its hideous relevance rolls all before it ... This book about children that is in no sense a children's book deserves to be read - Independent

This is an extraordinary book ... horrifying expose ... vivid ... It casts a powerful, if gruesome spell - Sunday Telegraph

Iweala makes a compelling story from experience which in its nature defies articulation ... Uzodinma Iweala's is a confident and promising new voice - Times Literary Supplement

Gives a name, a voice and a heart to one of Africa's innumerable child soldiers ... This is urgent writing, starkly unsentimental and convincing - Observer

Uzodinma Iweala is 23 years old. He is a Nigerian born in the United States and a recent Harvard graduate. He currently lives in New York City where he writes and works on the Millennium Villages Project.

Agu is just a boy when war arrives at his village. His mother and sister are rescued by the UN, while he and his father remain to fight the rebels. 'Run!' shouts his father when the rebels arrive. And Agu does run. Straight into the rebels' path. In a vivid, sparkling voice, Agu tells the story of what happens to him next. His story is shocking and painful, and completely unforgettable. Beasts of No Nation gives us an extraordinary portrait of the chaos and violence of war. It is a gripping and remarkable debut.

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