About book Die Meerblauen Schuhe Meines Onkels Cash Daddy (2011)
Humorous and moving tale of a young Nigerian man who becomes entrenched in the seedy world of 419 email scams. While initially able to rationalize his fraudulent acquisition of millions, Kingsley finds himself conflicted when reminded that his mother is ashamed of his behavior and that his recently deceased father would be heartbroken. Kingsley's plight may be analogous to Nigeria's current situation: In the shifting sands of economic globalization, foreign investment agendas and new technology, how does a country maintain its unique cultural identity? Nwaubani's answer is fascinating to read. I Do Not Come To You By Chance is a humorous heartfelt tale about internet scam which is popularly known in Nigeria as 419. Regardless of your ethnicity, you probably have heard you fair share of wise cracks about Nigerian Princes. On one of such almost awkward encounters, my conversation partner attempts to redeem himself by offering the history of internet scams which I found very fascinating. Apparently years ago used computers used to be sent to the second hard market in china, but it became more cost effective to send them to Africa(Nigeria?) instead. It started innocently enough, people had all this information at their disposal and were just playing round with it and lo and behold they discovered that it could work to rope in some quick money. I cannot attest to validity or lack there of of this story but it gives an interesting perceptive on 419ers. It kind of gives them a story like Adaobi Tricia Nwauban does very fluidly in I Do Not Come To You By ChanceI Do Not Come To You By Chance is about a young man(Kingsley) who is mercilessly bit by the poverty bug. His father prides himself as being an honest learned man who had an impeccable work ethic, studied abroad and had the most ingenious mind, yet he died without a penny to his name. Upon Paulinus'(kingsley's father) death, Kingsley the opara(first son of the family) is not left with very much choice but to shadow under a prolific internet scammer who is affectionately called Cash Daddy. Cash Daddy happens to be his Uncle, Boniface who once lived with his family back in the day and had a penchant for fast money and who is father was particularly not fond due his dubious ways. Kingsley fondly reminiscences on the days when Uncle Boniface helped his mom sell drinks to customers at her tailoring shop. To make an extra buck, Uncle Boniface would refill the ginger-ale bottles up with ginger, water and sugar and resell to unsuspecting customers. This was the last straw that broke the camel's back for Paulinus. After this incident, Kingsley father wrote Uncle Boniface completely.Save for Kingsley's brief bouts of nostalgia, Cash Money is introduced to us as a blabbering "money-miss-road." He eats like a pig. He is married but frequently sleeps with prostitutes. Never washes his hands after he goes number two. Not to mention although he is some what disturbingly chubby yet he showers and goes to the bathroom with a flock people in the bathroom . He is crude and lecherous. On first glance if you are a delicate little flower and or a straight shooter, he will offend your sensibilities. Having said that, he did turn out to be my favourite character in the book as uncouth as he was, he had a gentle charismatic way about him, which made all his staff love him deeply and truly. At the end when Cash Money is eliminated by one of his political enemies in the gubernatorial elections, his staff are inconsolable because he was extremely good to them.To tie it all up, Tricia offers a different perceptive. I believe that the older you get, the more open minded you become, because you realize that not everything is black and white. However, I cannot really see myself ever being okay with internet scam or a lot of the political atrocities. But having being acquainted with the loveable Cash Money, I can relate to his thought process and little quirks in some ways.This has also served as a bridge between me and the quintessential Nigerian politician or scammer or whatever else I find a tad questionable. It is my personal belief that at every point there is always the option to do the right thing if you are brave enough. I Do Not Come To You By Chance gives us an incite into why people(especially 419ers) do what they do. Although one thing I wish Adaobi did more conspicuously is develop characters on the side who achieved the Nigerian dream. There was that old classmate of Kingsley's who did quite well for himself in America, still it would have been nice to see someone else who won despite the odds in the Nigerian environment. The good honest Nigerian dreams still exist. There are examples all around. Kingsley started a new slate in the epilogue of the book though and righted his wrongs with some of his "mugus," to the point that some of went into legitimate business with him. All in all a really great way to end this heart felt tale.
Do You like book Die Meerblauen Schuhe Meines Onkels Cash Daddy (2011)?
This is one of the most funny book I read in a long time!!!
—ilovebooks106
Really liked this book, though it was pretty predictable.
—VampireAcademy
Sehr lesenswert für alle, die das Thema interessiert.
—Taylor
Great book. I didn't want to put it down.
—neverlandread
