Foreign Gods, Inc.

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Foreign Gods, Inc., tells the story of Ike, a New York-based Nigerian cab driver who sets out to steal the statue of an ancient war deity from his home village and sell it to a New York gallery. Ike's plan is fueled by desperation. Despite a degree in economics from a major American college, his strong accent has barred him from the corporate world. Forced to eke out a living as a cab driver, he is unable to manage the emotional and material needs of a temperamental African American bride and a widowed mother demanding financial support. When he turns to gambling, his mounting losses compound his woes. And so he travels back to Nigeria to steal the statue, where he has to deal with old friends, family, and a mounting conflict between those in the village who worship the deity, and those who practice Christianity. A meditation on the dreams, promises and frustrations of the immigrant life in America; the nature and impact of religious conflicts; an examination of the ways in which modern culture creates or heightens infatuation with the "exotic," including the desire to own strange objects and hanker after ineffable illusions; and an exploration of the shifting nature of memory, Foreign Gods is a brilliant work of fiction that illuminates our globally interconnected world like no other.ReviewPraise for *Foreign Gods, Inc.* "Razor-sharp... Mr. Ndibe invests his story with enough dark comedy to make Ngene an odoriferous presence in his own right, and certainly not the kind of polite exotic rarity that art collectors are used to... In Mr. Ndibe’s agile hands, he’s both a source of satire and an embodiment of pure terror." —Janet Maslin, *New York Times* “We clearly have a fresh talent at work here. It is quite a while since I sensed creative promise on this level.”—Wole Soyinka, Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature "Foreign Gods, Inc. reads like the narrative of a taxi-driving Faust in modern Nigeria and America. With Moliere-like humorous debunking of religious hypocrisy and rancid materialism, it teems with characters and situations that make you laugh in order not to cry." —Ngugi wa Thiong'o, author of *Wizard of the Crow* "Foreign Gods, Inc. is a blistering exploration of the contemporary African immigrant experience in America. Ndibe tackles tough questions: from the shifting notions of home and identity to the nature of greed. In prose which is fresh and often funny, Ndibe draws the reader into the heartbreaking story of Ike Uzondu's attempt to survive in a world which seems determined to crush him." *—Chika Unigwe, author of On Black Sisters Street "Ndibe writes of cultural clash in a moving way that makes Ike’s march toward disaster inexorable and ineffably sad." —Kirkus, STARRED Review "Neither fable nor melodrama, nor what's crudely niched as "world literature," the novel traces the story of a painstakingly-crafted protagonist and his community caught up in the inescapable allure of success defined in Western terms."—Publishers Weekly, STARRED Review"A challenging romp of gods and styles."—John Edgar Wideman, author of *Philadelphia Fire* "This is a heist story like no other.... Ndibe unfurls his rich narrative gradually, allowing room for plenty of character interaction while painting a revealing portrait of contemporary Nigeria. With piercing psychological insight and biting commentary on the challenges faced by immigrants, the novel is as full-blooded and fierce as the war deity who drives the story." —BookList "On the surface, Foreign Gods, Inc. is a heist book about a Nigerian cab driver in New York trying to steal an ancient statue from his village in Nigeria. But Okey Ndibe’s novel delivers far more than that description suggests, tackling everything from tradition to trying to make it in America, and the way Western countries view the rest of the world." —Jason Diamond, Flavorwire "A close associate of the late, great Chinua Achebe, Okey Ndibe adds his voice to a new generation of writers ... Foreign Gods, Inc. features New York-based Nigerian Ike ... [whose] picaresque journey, gently but incisively told, shows us the vagaries of both American and Africa culture."—Barbara Hoffert, *Library Journal * “Ndibe takes his readers on a transfixing and revelatory journey from bitter bad faith to  hard won, deeply moving and adult redemption.” —Francisco Goldman,  *Say Her Name* Praise for *Arrows of Rain"First rate fiction."—**John Edgar Wideman, author of Philadelphia Fire*"Highly evocative."—Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, author of The Interpreters*"A superb debut; a gritty political thriller with real emotional depth."—The New Internationalist "A blueprint for the second generation of African novelists."—Ernest Emenyonu, author of Tales of Our Motherland"An ambitious and brave first novel."—Michael Ekwueme Thelwell, author of ***The Harder They Come About the AuthorOKEY NDIBE teaches African and African Diaspora literatures at Brown University. He earned MFA and PhD degrees from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and has taught at Connecticut College, Bard College, Trinity College, and the University of Lagos (as a Fulbright scholar). He is also the author of Arrows of Rain and has served on the editorial board of Hartford Courant where his essays won national and state awards. He lives in West Hartford, CT, with his wife, Sheri, and their three children.