Wrestling with the Devil - by Ngugi Wa Thiong'o (Hardcover)

About the Book

"[This book] ... begins literally half an hour before [the author's release from prison] on December 12, 1978. In one extended flashback he recalls the night, a year earlier, when armed police pulled him from his home and jailed him in Kenya's ... [maximum security prisons]. There, he lives in a prison block with eighteen other political prisoners, quarantined from the general prison population. In a conscious effort to fight back the humiliation and the intended degradation of the spirit, [the author] ... decides to write a novel on toilet paper, the only paper to which he has access, a book that will become his classic, Devil on the cross. Written in the early 1980s and never before published in America, [this book is an account of the author's] drama and the challenges of writing the novel under twenty-four-hour surveillance. He captures not only the excruciating pain that comes from being cut off from his wife and children, but also the spirit of defiance that defines hope. Ultimately, [this book] is a testimony to the power of imagination to help humans break free of confinement, which is truly the story of all art"--

Book Synopsis

A New York Times Editors' Choice

"A welcome addition to the vast literature produced by jailed writers across the centuries . . . [a] thrilling testament to the human spirit."
--Ariel Dorfman, The New York Times Book Review

"Wrestling with the Devil is a powerful testament to the courage of Ngũgĩ and his fellow prisoners and validation of the hope that an independent Kenya would eventually emerge."
--Minneapolis Star Tribune

"The Ngũgĩ of Wrestling with the Devil called not just for adding a bit of color to the canon's sagging shelf, but for abolition and upheaval."
--Bookforum

An unforgettable chronicle of the year the brilliant novelist and memoirist, long favored for the Nobel Prize, was thrown in a Kenyan jail without charge

Wrestling with the Devil, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o's powerful prison memoir, begins literally half an hour before his release on December 12, 1978. In one extended flashback he recalls the night, a year earlier, when armed police pulled him from his home and jailed him in Kenya's Kamĩtĩ Maximum Security Prison, one of the largest in Africa. There, he lives in a prison block with eighteen other political prisoners, quarantined from the general prison population.

In a conscious effort to fight back the humiliation and the intended degradation of the spirit, Ngũgĩ--the world-renowned author of Weep Not, Child; Petals of Blood; and Wizard of the Crow--decides to write a novel on toilet paper, the only paper to which he has access, a book that will become his classic, Devil on the Cross.

Written in the early 1980s and never before published in America, Wrestling with the Devil is Ngũgĩ's account of the drama and the challenges of writing the novel under twenty-four-hour surveillance. He captures not only the excruciating pain that comes from being cut off from his wife and children, but also the spirit of defiance that defines hope. Ultimately, Wrestling with the Devil is a testimony to the power of imagination to help humans break free of confinement, which is truly the story of all art.

Review Quotes

Praise for Wrestling with the Devil:
A New York Times Editors' Choice

"This thrilling testament to the human spirit had, for me, a fierce resonance. . . . I could not help feeling that his luminous words were meant for those victims and many others being persecuted across the world, a way of urging humanity to never surrender to the demons of fear and silence."
--Ariel Dorfman, The New York Times Book Review

"Wrestling with the Devil is a powerful testament to the courage of Ngũgĩ and his fellow prisoners and validation of the hope that an independent Kenya would eventually emerge."
--Minneapolis Star Tribune

★ "[A] masterly work. . . . Through this incredibly vivid account, one can learn much about Kenyan colonial and postcolonial history. For all readers who want to understand better issues of injustice."
--Library Journal (starred review)

"With elegant prose and compelling arguments, this is highly recommended."
--Booklist

"Engrossing ... At once exhilarating and defiant, [Ngũgĩ] wa Thiong'o's memoir is a thought provoking document of a grim time in Kenyan history."
--Publishers Weekly

"The Ngũgĩ of Wrestling with the Devil called not just for adding a bit of color to the canon's sagging shelf, but for abolition and upheaval."
--Bookforum

"Long after the Kenyatta tyranny, the author refocuses the narrative so that it is less about the specifics of abuses suffered under that regime and more about sustaining the spirit of resistance while subjected to years of incarceration. . . . Four decades after the imprisonment detailed here, the issues remain fresh."
--Kirkus Reviews

Praise for Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o's Birth of a Dream Weaver:
One of Oprah.com's "17 Must-Read Books for the New Year" and O Magazine's "10 Titles to Pick up Now."

"Exquisite in its honesty and truth and resilience, and a necessary chronicle from one of the greatest writers of our time. "
--Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, The Guardian, Best Books of 2016.

"It's hard to think of another living writer today--Orhan Pamuk, perhaps--who speaks so inspiringly and convincingly about the value of literature. No serious reader will want to miss this riveting story."
--The Washington Post

"An eloquent, perceptive memoir. . . Evocative, poignant, and thoughtful, Thiong'o's courageous narrative will linger in readers' minds."
--Publishers Weekly (starred)

"A writer's coming-of-age tale featuring an artistic mix of pride and humility."
--Kirkus Reviews

"An autobiographical masterpiece. . . As essential as Achebe's There Was a Country, this is a riveting read in African history and literature."
--Library Journal (starred)

"This is a powerful recollection of a turbulent time that produced leaders from Tom Mboya and Jomo Kenyatta to the tyrannical Idi Amin in response to the brutality of a dying colonialism."
--Booklist

Praise for Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o's work:
"Evocative, poignant, and thoughtful, Thiong'o's courageous narrative will linger in readers' minds."
--Publishers Weekly (starred)

"In his crowded career and his eventful life, Ngũgĩ has enacted, for all to see, the paradigmatic trials and quandaries of a contemporary African writer, caught in sometimes implacable political, social, racial, and linguistic currents."
--John Updike, The New Yorker

"Ngũgĩ has dedicated his life to describing, satirising and destabilising the corridors of power. . . . Still living in exile and writing primarily in Gikuyu, Ngũgĩ continues to spin captivating tales."
--The Guardian

"Ngũgĩ has flown over the entire African continent and sniffed out all of the foul stenches rising high into the air: complacency toward despotism, repression of women and ethnic minorities, widespread corruption and--undergirding all of these--a neocolonial system in which today's lending banks and multinationals have supplanted yesterday's European overlords."
--The New York Times Book Review

About the Author

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (1938-2025) was a leading Kenyan author and academic. He is the author of A Grain of Wheat; Weep Not, Child; and Petals of Blood, as well as Wrestling with the Devil, Minutes of Glory, The Perfect Nine, and Decolonizing Language and Other Revolutionary Ideas (all from The New Press). He was the recipient of twelve honorary doctorates, among other awards, and was nominated for the Man Booker International Prize.