Jambo, Mama

Speaking first from a technical standpoint, I found Atwood's story to be mediocre at best. There wasn't much meat or substance to it, she had no distinct style to speak of and, while I read her words, I felt absolutely no passion behind them. Likewise, there was simply never enough detail or elaboration to any of her anecdotes. One of the first things one learns about creative writing is to show, not tell. Unfortunately, even with such a rich canvas as Africa, this is not Atwood's strong suit.

As for the actual story; I found her to be quite whiny, needy and self-centered for the majority of the time, behaving every bit the quintessential American better-than-you tourist. In addition, it is absolutely unfathomable to me that she could show more spend SIX years in Kenya and not make a single friend outside of the people whom she employed as servants or the handful of men she bedded. She spoke of being eternally bored, however, there was never any indication that she attempted to come out of the cushy Westernized compound that she created for herself in order to befriend, or even simply experience the real people of Kenya. In my opinion, the author felt that, once arriving in (her greatly romanticized) Ah-frica the intrigue and adventure would all just fall into her lap instead of actually going out and living this life that she so sorely seemed to want. One has to give her props for actually getting up and going in the first place, however, much like a toddler with a Rubik's Cube, she didn't really know what to do with it when she got there.

For all intents and purposes, Atwood's tale is a rather insipid account of what she wanted her life in Ah-frica to be but never got around to.

This book is not for those who have a love for Kenya (warts and all) that runs beyond the stereotypical western view. If you know anything at all about Kenya, it's people and it's customs you'll be sorely disappointed with such a sanitized account of a New York Diva's Extended Safari! show less

The memoir of an American woman who "runs off" to Kenya, apparently on a sort of whim, buys a hand weaving business in Nairobi, and then decides her life in Kenya is just too funny and quaint not to share. She is so naive one would laugh, except that she takes herself so seriously. Oh, the hardships of life in a third world country, the difficulties in finding competent decorators, good Chinese food, and then the endless funny problems of drunken and disorderly African help and all their hopelessly complicated and incomprehensible domestic squabbles. You do know how it is, darling.