The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa - by Stephen Buoro

About the Book

Crackling with energy and intelligence, this debut is the "smart, subversive, funny, heartbreaking" (Kamila Shamsie) story of an exceptional teenager coming of age in the shadow of colonialism and communal violence in Nigeria.

Book Synopsis

The Los Angeles Times Book Prizes Finalist
Shortlisted for the 2024 Betty Trask Prize
Longlisted for the 2024 Aspen Words Literary Prize

"This novel shimmers." -NPR "Best Books of the Year"
"Funny, vulgar, and wrenching."-New York Magazine

Fifteen-year-old Andrew Aziza lives in Kontagora, Nigeria, where his days are spent about town with his friends, fantasizing about white girls. When he's not in church, at school, or attempting to form "Africa's first superheroes," he obsesses over mathematical theorems, ideas of Black power, and HXVX: the Curse of Africa.

Sure enough, Andy soon falls for the first blonde he sees. But multiple crises are looming, set to shake the foundations of everything he knows and loves . . .

Crackling with energy and intelligence, this tragicomic novel of contemporary African life announces an astounding new talent.

"A writer of imagination and flair . . . Andy Africa is an unforgettable character." -The Economist
"A voice unlike any other." -Observer
"I fell in love immediately." -Max Porter

Review Quotes

"Animated by a lively voice and a spiritual vision, Buoro's novel . . . unfolds a touching critique of the false promise of Western transcendence." --The New Yorker

"This novel shimmers with the wit and desires of a 15-year-old who doesn't fully grasp how complex his family and country are and who isn't yet mature enough to make good decisions." --NPR

"Buoro is a writer of imagination and flair . . . For its sheer energy, [Andy Africa] is among the best." --The Economist

"A literary blockbuster." --The Guardian (UK)

"Funny and poignant." --Los Angeles Times

"Enthrals . . . Punchy . . . The vivid immediacy of Buoro's prose is transporting . . . There is swagger and humility in Buoro's writing, which blends the bluster of a teenage boy who knows he's a "loud smartass" with the diffidence of someone who knows his country is broken . . . When, near the end of the book, Zahrah tells Andy, "You've got a huge interesting life ahead of you," she could be talking about Buoro, whose writing deserves to inspire a generation of superheroes." --The Times (UK)

"A heart wrenching coming-of-age story ... This debut novel grapples with identity and contemporary African life all through its beautiful prose." --USA Today

"A debut from a sharp new voice . . . Stephen Buoro's first novel is funny, vulgar, and wrenching." --New York Magazine

"A compelling but never boring portrait . . . Written in an obscene, colloquial style reminiscent of Junot Diaz and Sherman Alexie, the novel is funny, raucous, and most devastating." --Buzzfeed

"Craft and verve abound in this tragicomic coming-of-age debut fueled by the lapel-grabbing voice of its 15-year-old narrator, Andy . . . Both sweet and sour, it offers a family story, a thwarted romance and a story of friendship . . . A multi-level success, attuned to political and cultural complexity, but bright and breezy reading with it." --Daily Mail

"Hilarious and heartbreaking and full of surprises." --Philadelphia Inquirer

"A barnstorming, heartbreaking debut . . . Tackling the perils of carving out a unique identity in a world of carnage and confusion, in the shadow of colonialism, this assured, engaging book, will make you fall in love with teenager Andy Aziza, and will undoubtedly make a star of Stephen Buoro." --Harper's (UK)

"Andy Africa is not your usual coming-of-age story . . . Buoro is a writer who can blend humor and big ideas." --Brittle Paper

"[The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa] is as much a coming-of-age story for its protagonist as it is a portrait of Nigeria's grim reality of postcolonial reckoning." --The Africa Report

"The characters . . . glitter off the page fully formed and irresistible. I'm always hoping, when reading fiction, for something audacious and formally interesting and this novel was a refreshing example of that." --Diana Evans, Granta

"Buoro's first novel is bold, honest, and fizzing with energy in its depiction of what it's like to live inside the mind of a 15-year-old boy . . . Buoro, recipient of the Booker Prize Foundation Scholarship, is an exciting new literary voice emphatically carving space for himself. Andy's narration is witty and sharp and ingrained with deep philosophies innocently presented. Buoro captures the essence of 'trauma laughter, ' interlacing humor with the sorrows of Andy's life and taking both his main character and the reader on an intense journey of self-discovery. This tale demands that readers keep up or get left behind." --Booklist

"An irreverent coming-of-age story . . . Buoro deftly blends low-brow humor with sophisticated religious and literary references, elevating this highly anticipated novel to a poignant lament for a country and its children." --Library Journal

"Andy is a winning narrator, by turns self-deprecating and sardonic and lyrical as well, thanks to [his] poetry, interspersed throughout . . . The title's crucifixion reference frames Andy as both a Christ figure and a comically self-martyring figure, and Buoro has an assured grasp of religious and coming-of-age themes. A promising debut that upends the typical bildungsroman." --Kirkus Reviews

"A bildungsroman of impressive ambition and depth . . . Unforgettable . . . A novel of ideas and a literary page-turner; an invigorating, tragicomic tale of teenage yearning, love and identity that grips you with its twisting plot and spirited prose." --Bookseller (UK), Best Book of the Month

"The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa announces the arrival of an exciting new verbal craftsman with a fresh voice . . . [Stephen Buoro's] satirical writing is hilarious and reflection-inducing . . . [writing] texts within the text . . . that leave the reader in awe of the writer's versatility and prowess." --Chicago Review of Books

"Beautiful, intelligent, and heart-wrenching." --NoViolet Bulawayo, author of GLORY and WE NEED NEW NAMES

"A blazing debut - smart, subversive, funny, heartbreaking. I'm already impatient for Buoro's next book." --Kamila Shamsie, author of HOME FIRE and BEST OF FRIENDS

"I fell in love with this novel immediately. It has hilarious energy, a satirical but also wildly ambitious philosophical framework . . . It's eccentric, profound, timely, specific but it also has global concerns and a really, really brilliant central character." --Max Porter, author of LANNY and GRIEF IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS

"Stephen Buoro's wonderful The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa is filled with lovable, memorable characters. You'll meet a young man pining over a fantasy; his fierce mother who tries to shield him as best she can; a friend who confides; and others who just want happiness. This novel is at once funny and heartbreaking. Most importantly, it's honest." --De'Shawn Charles Winslow, author of Decent People and In West Mills

"Fascinating; unashamedly, brilliantly intelligent. It grapples with ideas around maths, Afrofuturism, biblical myth . . . profound philosophical stuff, but fundamentally it's a really playful, pleasurable book about young boy who's falling madly in love, and has a difficult, intense, loving relationship with his mother." --Sarah Perry, author of MELMOTH and THE ESSEX SERPENT

"This novel exudes a wonderfully vivid sense of place and leads the reader inside the head of its teenage hero . . . It's a narrative of depth that also manages to be instantly engaging." --Ian Rankin, author of the Inspector Rebus novels

"Bouncing between humor and tension, Buoro sprinkles the text with gleaming poetry, intercutting the thrilling and at times difficult narrative with ease. His words describe modern Nigeria uncomfortably yet honestly ... Remarkable." --The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"This charming coming-of-age story . . . oozes conviction from the very first page . . . quite exceptional." --Daily Mail (UK)

"Tragically ebullient . . . The ending is one of the most staggering since Evelyn Waugh's A Handful of Dust." --Financial Times (UK)

About the Author

Stephen Buoro was born in Nigeria in 1993. He has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia where he received the Booker Prize Foundation Scholarship. His debut novel, The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa, was a finalist for the L.A. Times Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction, the Nero Book Awards: Debut Fiction Prize, and the Betty Trask Prize. He lives in Norwich, UK.