My Kingdom for a Guitar is a novel based on the remarkable life of Cameroonian-born writer and musician Francis Bebey. Born in Douala, Cameroon, Bebey studied in Paris and New York. He found fame when his first novel, Le Fils d'Agatha Moudio (Agatha Moudio's Son), was published in 1967, and that fame continued to grow with the release of his first album in 1969. He would go on to become one of the best-known singer-songwriters of Africa, whose groundbreaking style merged Cameroonian makossa with classical guitar, jazz, and pop.

Narrated by Bebey's daughter, Kidi, My Kingdom for a Guitar is a tribute to her late father and his family. Through a combination of recollections and fiction, it offers the reader a chance to witness the admiration of a daughter for her father and the love of a man for his music.

About the Author

Kidi Bebey is a French journalist and writer. She is the author of several children's books. My Kingdom for a Guitar is her first novel and was published originally in French in 2016.

Karen Lindo is a scholar of French and Francophone Studies, currently teaching and translating in Paris. She is translator of three other books in the Global African Voices series: The Heart of the Leopard Children, The Silence of the Spirits, and Concrete Flowers, all by Wilfried N'Sonde.

Reviews

Without a shadow of a doubt, Kidi Bebey has inherited from her father, Francis, the famous Cameroonian musician who passed away in 2001, a visceral attachment to creativity, to the arts, to what makes us human.

-- Severine Kodjo-Grandvaux * Le Monde *

Kidi Bebey's deep love of words and stories mean that poetry and fiction find a warm welcome in her book.

-- Caroline Trouillet * Africultures *



Book Information
ISBN 9780253057853
Author Kidi Bebey
Format Paperback
Page Count 230
Imprint Indiana University Press
Publisher Indiana University Press