Search Sweet Country: Heinemann African Writers Series

Kojo Laing is renowned Ghanaian poet and novelist. His first two novels - Search Sweet Country and Woman of the Aeroplanes - were first published by William Heinemann in the 1980s. Acclaimed at the time by critics such as Robert Fraser and Adewale Maja-Pearce, the Heinemann African Writers Series' republication of these seminal works comes at a time of renewed interest in Laing, who has been a major influence on a younger generation of writers. Other Laing titles previously published by the Series are the poetry collection Godhorseand the novel Major Gentl and the Achimota Wars.

Surreal and satirical ... Laing has found an original voice that is all the stronger for making few concessions to the Western reader: wild, sophisticated, sorrowful
Gleefully energetic ... there is an extravagant hopefulness in Kojo Laing
Laing pushed the English language to its limits and beyond, by fusing Oxbridge English with West African Pidgin, elements from African languages and his own coinings, aiming at creating one gigantic, living and truly cosmopolitan language ... A treasure trove of imagery and refelctions which are just as amusing, relevant and thought-provoking as when they were written
Kojo Laing is one of the unsung heroes of African fiction. His prose is poetic, densely packed with strange juxtapositions and more ideas on one page than most writers use for several books.Search Sweet Countryis an amazing achievement
ReadingSearch Sweet Countryis like reading a dream ... Each page delivers an intense blast of vivid imagery, a world in which landscapes come to life when inanimate objects receive human characterization ... Laing is a master stylist, andSearch Sweet Countrydelivers an absorbing, if demanding, world for both its characters and the reader
An intricate, beautifully rambling novel ... a compelling and rewarding read
Search Sweet Countrycan be read over and over, continually surprising with a fresh turn of phrase or nuance in character, always engaging, always beautiful. The search is worthwhile
Exuberantly reels with language and imagery reminiscent of the early Joyce
A figurative, comic treat, filled with wild characters and dizzy, wink-filled prose
African literature's greatest linguistic innovator