Astonishing the Gods is a novel by Nigerian writer Ben Okri. [1]
On 5 November 2019 BBC News listed Astonishing the Gods on its list of the 100 most influential novels. [2]
In an interview with The Guardian Okri mentioned that he wrote the novel while on a fast. [1]
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Sir Ben Golden Emuobowho Okri is a Nigerian-born British poet and novelist. Considered one of the foremost African authors in the postmodern and post-colonial traditions, Okri has been compared favourably to authors such as Salman Rushdie and Gabriel García Márquez. In 1991, his novel The Famished Road won the Booker Prize. Okri was knighted at the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to literature.
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On 5 November 2019, the BBC published a list of novels selected by a panel of six writers and critics, who had been asked to choose 100 English language novels "that have had an impact on their lives". The resulting list of "100 novels that shaped our world", called the "100 'most inspiring' novels" by BBC News, was published by the BBC to kick off a year of celebrating literature.
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Food and personal spiritual development is very interesting – not least in fasting. It's not much talked about, but fasting can cleanse the appetite and return one's senses to zero. Astonishing The Gods was written while fasting.
The reveal kickstarts the BBC's year-long celebration of literature.
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