The Tears of the Black Man

"Africans, Mr. Mabanckou is asking us to wake up from such dreams and do something that matters in the present rather than live in the past. It is not helping us in the least. Also, he is asking us, for God's sake, to stop blaming everything on the white man and acknowledge our share of responsibilities."—Ndeye Sene Mbaye, author of 'Under the Neem Tree'

"In this slender but intellectually dense collection of 12 essays, Franco-Congolese novelist Mabanckou (Black Moses) reveals and reshapes notions of black identity, arguing that in today's global community, 'identity goes far beyond notions of territory or blood.' . . . Mabanckou's challenging perspective on African identity today is as enlightening as it is provocative."—Publishers Weekly

"Africa's Samuel Beckett ... one of the continent's greatest living writers"—Guardian

"Mabanckou's challenging perspective on African identity today is as enlightening as it is provocative."—Publishers Weekly