Seldom have the raw truths of Africa been exposed so vividly, yet humorously, as in this collection … With tales that tease, then bite, [Thiong’o] tackles the absurdities, injustices and corruption of a continent and is never intimidated by the ‘immensity of the darkness’ of which he writes. Nor is he cynical or judgmental. Only someone born from this soil could have grown the stories in Minutes of Glory … Despite such stark portraits, what shines through in Ngugi’s stirring pages is a hopeful message. Even after generations of foreign then domestic repression, spiritual confusion, drought and hunger, the resilient spirit — a gathering of real souls — lives on in Africa, no matter whose ghost or god is worshiped.
