Blurb
Book Review: Expert in all styles by I. O. Echeruo.
Expert In All Styles explores, in richly-textured stories, the complex and often painful struggles of individuals with desire, despair, and hope within the social constructs of contemporary Nigeria.
The twelve stories in the collection range in setting and tone – from the joys of a family excursion in Maiduguri in The Lake Chad Club to an American-Nigerian family’s return to Lagos in Communicable Disease.
Book Details
Book Review: Expert in all styles by I. O. Echeruo.
Format: 178 pages, Kindle Edition.
Published: April 16, 2023 by Kachifo Limited Under its Farafina imprint.
Language: English.
My Review of Expert in all styles by I. O. Echeruo.
If I am to describe this book in one word, I will say phenomenal. This is a collection of twelve beautifully written stories that are filled with simple, but flawed characters.
These stories are close to home, and heavily relatable, especially to Nigerians.
In Aishatu’s dinner, two young women with two different lives would be introduced.
Book Review: Expert in all styles by I. O. Echeruo.
One, Aishatu, who loves nothing more than having fun and enjoying her life even after three failed marriages, and her sister-in-law, who despises her marriage and her husband even more.
This, and most of the stories in this book shows us the bad side of marriage, how most people cannot stand their partners, but somehow still manage to stay in their marriages.
The character in this story, obviously married, would be ogling a married politician she sees in Aishatu’s Dinner, because she is tired of her husband and wants a change.
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Continuation of Review
Book Review: Expert in all styles by I. O. Echeruo.
His Excellency is an interesting story. A young, brilliant graduate would remain in the chasm of unemployment for so long, till he meets his Messiah, the Excellency, who would help him travel out to the abroad.
He achieves his dream and all, but when it is time to prove his loyalty to the Excellency, he starts fumbling. He, too, has a rocky relationship with the mother of his child, who thinks he loves the idea of being with her, more than actually loving her.
This story is a food for thought. Do our helpers deserve our unalloyed loyalty simply because they have helped us at some point in our lives, or do they not deserve it at all? Why do some people love the idea of being romantically involved with people than actually loving them?
Book Review: Expert in all styles by I. O. Echeruo.
Christian Mothers is one of my favorite stories in the collection, because of how hilarious it is.
And it is one hundred percent relatable. People would do anything, no matter how ridiculous it is, for power. And in this case, the Christian mothers in a parish.
One of the women would threaten to take her life if she’s not given the position of the head of Christian mothers.
What’s even more shocking is the revelation at the end, about the young priest sent for his missionary work in their parish.
This is one thing I love about this book, telling the stories of flawed, ordinary individuals. None of the characters in this book is without flaw.
Love and other Masquerades tells the story of an elderly woman who have cheated on her husband all her life, under his nose. And now the lover is dead, and she is mourning him.
The irony is that her lover’s wife would mourn him for the longest time, lamenting on how great a man he is and how he does not deserve to die yet.
Book Review: Expert in all styles by I. O. Echeruo.
This is to show that no one can really know any other person completely. No one. Humans are so complex that they learn new things about themselves daily.
You can’t even say you know yourself completely, even after staying with yourself, in your body, for the longest time.
In The Convalescent Ward reveals yet another dysfunctional family. This couple is married for five years, yet they have no child.
And cut between the issue of childlessness and despise for her husband, the protagonist in this story would make the greatest decision of her life.
Conclusion
Book Review: Expert in all styles by I. O. Echeruo.
These stories reveal how flawed we are as individuals, and members of the society at large.
How it is difficult to maintain relationships with other flawed humans, how hard it is to stand one another.
How common it is to break rules, even for the tiniest reason, and how no one is truly so holy.
One thing I love about this story is that they do not follow any particular formula, or bend themselves to suit any need.
The author just allows these characters tell their stories by themselves, how they deem fit.
Expert in all styles is an excellent short story collection with important stories that everyone must read, so I highly recommend it to everyone. Please read it, discuss it with friends, and talk about it in your book clubs. I’d rate it as 4.5/5.
Have you read the book? What do you think about it? Please share your thoughts with me in the comment section. Do not forget to subscribe to my newsletter, and follow me on all social media platforms. Thank you for visiting Bookish Pixie.
