419 by Will Ferguson

In the end I liked 419 quite a lot, although I felt the book sagged some in the middle. There are different threads going on, different stories, that get increasingly tied together. It’s about Nigeria and it’s about oil and it’s about email scams and poverty and organized criminal activity and about a family in Canada who get scammed. It’s an ambitious book. I like that it’s a bit messy and imperfectly resolved.

I don’t know nearly enough about Africa, or Nigerian culture, outside of listening to some old Fela Kuti records. It was fascinating to read about Nnamdi and his village and the Delta and Igbo Joe and the somewhat mysterious Amina, about oil and greed and war and the huge gap between wealth and horrible poverty.

Who knew that anyone actually responded to the ubiquitous Nigerian email scams. Who knew what a big business it is? The mystery of Laura’s father’s death in Calgary cleverly sets our visit to Nigeria, where most of the novel takes place.

Overall, 419 is a good read. I learned a lot, and I enjoyed the stories, and I liked it enough that I’d like to check out other writing by Will Ferguson.

This book was recommended to me by my friend Karen London. Thanks Karen! She has recommended another book to me as well, The Last Policeman, by Ben H Winters, which I’ll read soon.

So, what are you reading? Care to make some book recommendations?