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Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth

'Soyinka's greatest novel'

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Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth

By: Wole Soyinka
Narrated by: Michael Obiora
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Bloomsbury presents Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth by Wole Soyinka, read by Michael Obiora.


'Soyinka's greatest novel ... No one else can write such a book' – Ben Okri

'A high-jinks state-of-the-nation novel' – Chibundu Onuzo

A FINANCIAL TIMES AND SPECTATOR BOOK OF THE YEAR

A towering figure in world literature, Wole Soyinka aims directly at the corridors of power as he warns against corruption both of high office and of the soul, with a dazzling lightness of touch and gleeful irreverence.

Much to Doctor Menka’s horror, some cunning entrepreneur has decided to sell body parts from his hospital for use in ritualistic practices. Already at the end of his tether from the horrors he routinely sees in surgery, he shares this latest development with his oldest college friend, bon viveur, star engineer and Yoruba royal, Duyole Pitan-Payne, who has never before met a puzzle he couldn’t solve. Neither realise how close the enemy is, nor how powerful.

Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth is at once a savagely witty whodunit, a scathing indictment of Nigeria’s political elite, and a provocative call to arms from one of the country’s most relentless political activists and an international literary giant.

MORE PRAISE FOR WOLE SOYINKA: 'You don't see the things the same when you encounter a voice like that' – Toni Morrison

'One of the best there is today, a poet and a thinker, who knows both how the world works and how the world should work' – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie©2020 Wole Soyinka (P)2021 Penguin Random House LLC Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Suspense Thriller & Suspense Africa Witty
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Critic reviews

Is this a good place to confess my crush, an overly bashful crush, on this politically courageous literary stylist … I look to Soyinka’s life, not so much the choices he has made but the courage it took to make them, as a source of light
A vivid and wild romp … A vast danse macabre. No one else can write such a book ... Chronicles is Soyinka’s greatest novel … It ought to be widely read
A lion of African literature … A brutally satirical look at power and corruption in Nigeria, told in the form of a whodunnit
A Nigerian icon … A high-jinks state-of-the-nation novel
A black-humoured satire of contemporary Nigeria
Chronicles is a good model for what the political novel should be: fearless, disdaining formal constraints, sparing no one … A triumph
This is an extraordinary novel that is both in and of Nigeria. It contains elements of Yoruba culture and, in the middle of it all, is a gourd full of satire, humor and pathos. It is a chronicle of human folly among the happiest people on earth. The writing alone is a wonder and a fitting coda for the career of this great writer
Inspiring and original ... Soyinka's analysis of the 20th century problem of memory and forgiveness in the African world is both timely and important. Soyinka's analysis of the problem is an initial volley in what will surely become a 21st century debate
A satire, a murder mystery, a political novel, a work of sustained stylistic brio, and may be one of the few genuine literary surprises of 2021 … Soyinka finally delivers his magnum opus on the state of his homeland
With caustic wit, Soyinka’s carnivalesque depictions of venality ferret out hypocrisy from behind its elaborate guises and condemn crimes that challenge “the collective notion of soul".
He employs characteristically flamboyant language in a devastatingly detailed examination of Nigerian society
Chronicles is many things at once: a caustic political satire, a murder mystery, a conspiracy story and a deeply felt lament for the spirit of a nation ... For all its sarcastic undertones, for all its puns and plays on names, Chronicles From the Land of the Happiest People on Earth is a pessimistic novel, the work of a man with no illusions
Wole Soyinka is a legendary writer … He has inspired generations of writers worldwide … Wole draws on his lifetime steeped in resistance for his new novel, Chronicles From the Land of the Happiest People on Earth. The title is ironic. It’s a caustic, satirical takedown of corruption in a country not unlike his native Nigeria
Swaggering and scabrous, at once a verbal spree and a fierce assault on totalitarianism
A whodunnit that turns into a searing indictment of modern Nigeria
A caustic satire
A savagely witty whodunit, a scathing indictment of Nigeria’s political elite and a provocative call to arms from one of the country’s most relentless political activists and an international literary giant
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A complex work of art, heavy and confusing at times. Corruption, politics, tradition, friendship, murder mystery, religious fanaticism; the reader will start off thinking the central theme is one and by the end of the novel realise it is many. It is thought provoking, particularly as one would find themselves in proximity to real life events at times, while navigating the plot and the lessons to take out from this have no optimistic tones. Or perhaps, depending on your perspective, a quasi-optimistic one is that in the eye of corruption, nobody is indispensable?

Intriguing to say the least

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An astonishing masterpiece of wit, imagination, and humour from the maestro. The celebrated writer is known for his intricate and sophisticated works often impenetrable due to his style of delivery, basically not in plain English therefore having it narrated in Audible by a competent narrator helps a great deal. Great story, terrific imagination.
My only gripe with the Audible rendition is that the narrator could not correctly pronounce the Yoruba, Ibo and Hausa names, places, and phrases in the book. Considering that it is a work of African literature and an opportunity to showcase the cultures of peoples from that place, surely it is as important to pronounce those words correctly in their mother tongue as it is to pronounce the English words, and there couldn't be a shortage of competent narrators on the planet who could achieve such a feat. I think this really did take away from the enjoyment of the product and hope that a later edition will remedy this blunder.

An astonishing masterpiece of wit, imagination, an

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Too close to Africa's version of democracy, cloaked in her veil of black magic, deciey, betrayal,. Awful reader.

Real, Sad, Shocking,

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5 stars for a brilliant painting of words caressing words round and round describing explaining painting images and slowly moving forward. The reader is masterly

A great story read by a brilliant orator

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The book is good albeit scaburous, particularly knotty, but for the life of me I cannot understand why Audible would choose to have it read so very badly. The Narrator's reading is atrocious beyond belief. For a person with a very Nigerian sounding name, he mispronounces words, places and names, places a heavy accent on the wrong ones and exaggerated stereotypical Nigerian intonation to almost a caricature. This is a very unfortunate loss of opportunity to teach the rest of the world the correct pronunciation of the many Nigerian words and names that are awash in this book, words like "Agbada" "Babariga" etc, etc. Very unfortunate. If I am Prof Wole Soyinka, I will have it completely redone, differently, properly.

My worst Audible narration yet!

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