Necessary Fiction

(Hardback)

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From the acclaimed author of Vagabonds!: an audacious and eye-opening exploration of cross-generational queer life in contemporary Nigeria.'Necessary Fiction lives up to its title and beyond a vivid, stirring revolution' YRSA DALEY-WARD

What makes a family How is it defined and by whom Is freedom for everyone

Across Lagos, one of Africa's largest urban areas and one of the world's most dynamic cities, Osundes characters seek out love for themselves and their chosen partners, even as they risk ruining relationships with parents, spouses, family, and friends. As the novel unfolds, a rolling cast emerges: vibrantly active, stubbornly alive, brazenly flawed. As these characters grapple with desire, fear, time, death, and God, they form and break unexpected connections, in the process revealing how they know each other, how they have loved each other, and how they had their hearts broken in that pursuit. As they work to establish themselves in the city's lively worlds of art, music, entertainment, and creative commerce, we meet their collective and individual attempts to reckon with the necessary fiction they carry for survival.

In Necessary Fiction, Eloghosa Osunde explores the paths and dreams, hopes and fears of a dazzling cast of characters who are staking out lives for themselves in today's Nigeria.

Im in awe of Osundes writing CALEB AZUMAH NELSON

Reviews

'Necessary Fiction lives up to its title and beyonda luminous mirror hall, a prism refracting human need and want, generational patterns and heart work and chosen family carved from the citys chaotic sprawl. In true Eloghosa Osunde fashion, its a vivid, stirring revolution with echoes that transcend time' Yrsa Daley-Ward, author of The Terrible

I cant believe how alive Eloghosa Osundes NECESSARY FICTION is, how supersaturated and smart. Osunde writes with the cataclysmic dazzle and sneaky spiritual ache of Denis Johnson, but pitches it toward us here in the digital age. I love their prose, their characters. Its not a small job to guard a tall gate, they say, early on. Whats the gate Hustle, heart, privacy, sex, yearning so strong it buckles you. Its all here. The ink practically hovers off the page Kaveh Akbar, author of Martyr!

Praise for Vagabonds!:

You dont read this novel. You swan dive into it, then gasp in wonder Marlon James, author of A Brief History of Seven Killings

Im in awe of Osundes writing I cant wait for others to delve into the joyous, defiant world she has rendered Caleb Azumah Nelson, author of Small Worlds

Electrifying. A fierce, compulsively engaging and striking debut Irenosen Okojie, author of Nudibranch

Every year promises the birth of the next literary superstar Eloghosa Osundes VAGABONDS! is an exceptional debut i-D

A feast of a book, a marvelous ode to spirits and outsiders that is irreverent (and painfully funny) while being serious enough to drill a hole in ones chest. There is nothing in the world like this book Lesley Nneka Arimah, author of What It Means When A Man Falls From The Sky

A novel as vivid and varied as the city itself Harpers Bazaar

'Osundes gasp-inducing novel takes us to the Lagos streets with an ensemble of misfits and vagabonds, each with their own stories of queerness, personal demons, all-consuming love Immerse yourself in Osundes kaleidoscopic world' AnOther Magazine

Author Bio

Eloghosa Osunde is an award-winning writer and multidisciplinary artist. Winner of MoAD's African Literary Award, the Plimpton Prize for Fiction, and an ASME Award for Fiction, they are the author of the critically acclaimed novel Vagabonds!, which was a New York Times Editors Choice and a New Yorker Best Book of the Year. Their writing has been published in Paris Review, Granta, BASS, Georgia Review, Guernica, and elsewhere. They move between Nigeria, Nairobi, New York City, and wherever else their work calls. They can be found online at eloghosaosunde.com.