Okey Ndibe

The memoir's narrator and protagonist, Ndibe is a journalist who emigrates from Nigeria to America. He describes himself as a rebellious youth from a poor but well-respected family, and is both eager to pursue his own ambitions and committed to doing well by his family and fellow Nigerians. After African Commentary, the project that brings him to America, fails, he enrolls in the MFA program at the University of Massachusetts and becomes a successful novelist.

Ndibe portrays himself as a genial, culturally flexible personality who reacts with good humor and generosity to cultural differences, even when he is not treated fairly by the person on the other side. Repeatedly subject to discrimination and stereotypes by Americans, he prefers making a joke to getting angry. For instance, when Chris thinks there are no airports in Africa, Ndibe goes along with this, claiming that Africans ride crocodiles across the...