num_pages: 256
description: From two-time Caine Prize finalist Elnathan John a dynamic young voice from Nigeria Born on a Tuesday is a stirring starkly rendered first novel about a young boy struggling to find his place in a society that is fracturing along religious and political lines.In far northwestern Nigeria Dantala lives among a gang of street boys who sleep under a kuka tree. During the election the boys are paid by the Small Party to cause trouble. When their attempt to burn down the oppositions local headquarters ends in disaster Dantala must run for his life leaving his best friend behind. He makes his way to a mosque that provides him with food shelter and guidance. With his quick aptitude and modest nature Dantala becomes a favored apprentice to the mosques sheikh. Before long he is faced with a terrible conflict of loyalties as one of the sheikhs closest advisors begins to raise his own radical movement. When bloodshed erupts in the city around him Dantala must decide what kind of Muslimand what kind of manhe wants to be. Told in Dantalas nave searching voice this astonishing debut explores the ways in which young men are seduced by religious fundamentalism and violence.
language: English
title: Born on a Tuesday
publisher: Grove Press, Black Cat