"Unfolding in wry and lyrical verse,
The Perfect Nine tells a Homeric odyssey of the creation of the entire Gĩkũyũ people–a creationist myth, an adventure tale, and a family story, wherein the wives do not simply wait at home."–
Literary Hub "[
The Perfect Nine] departs from the sprawl of his past novels into an engaging if slight lyrical epic. Combining Homeric verse with oral storytelling tropes–choruses, chants, songs–he retells the origin myth of the Gĩkũyũ, Kenya's largest tribe. . . . Thiong'o's fans will appreciate this."–
Publishers Weekly "Essential reading and especially vital for our times. . . . Emphasizing fundamental cycles of birth, life, love, and death, this tale is centered on the Gĩkũyũ but connected to all of us and our humanity, a story to be told and retold, as it has been in various forms, for generations."–
Booklist (starred review) "In this sinuous retelling by the great Kenyan writer, the founding myth of the Gĩkũyũ people emerges as an epic poem rivalling the Iliad in body count and surpassing it in whimsy."–
The New Yorker "
The Perfect Nine uses a deceptively simple language that lays bare deep truths."–
Financial Times "A beautiful work of integration that not only refuses distinctions between 'high art' and traditional storytelling, but supplies that all-too-rare human necessity: the sense that life has meaning."–
The Guardian "Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o's first venture into epic poetry is a triumph of the form, which resounds with the lyrical heartbeat of the Gĩkũyũ people in Kenya as Ngũgĩ chronicles their mythic history."–
World Literature Today "A vivid, exhilarating tale with a surprisingly modern philosophy that emphasises the importance of tolerance, feminism and respect for the environment."–
Daily Mail "A beautifully told epic about the fundamentals of humanity."–
The New Statesman "
The Perfect Nine is one of the year's great discoveries."–
The Economist "
The Perfect Nine is a retelling and expansion of the creation myth of the Gĩkũyũ people, passed down orally over generations, and from it Ngũgĩ has fashioned a sublime, joyful epic poem that can be read–by anyone, Gĩkũyũ or otherwise–almost like a gospel, describing the nature of God, the world, and how we should live in it."–
Colorado Review
