SOURCE: "Rage and Sadness in Nigeria," in The New York Times Book Review, August 13, 1989, p. 12.

Bissoondath is an Trinidadian-born short story writer and novelist. In the following review, he offers a highly favorable assessment of Stars of the New Curfew, praising the volume's universal relevance.

"That afternoon three soldiers came to the village. They scattered the goats and chickens. They went to the palm-frond bar and ordered a calabash of palm-wine. They drank amidst the flies."

This first paragraph of the first story—"In the Shadow of War"—in Ben Okri's collection Stars of the New Curfew beautifully illustrates the power of his writing. The language is simple, the details striking, the whole powerfully observed scene pulled together by the final sentence.

Mr. Okri, a Nigerian who lives in London, is a natural storyteller, to the point where these stories if read aloud would acquire yet another dimension...