- Paperback: 96 pages
- Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux; 1 Reprint edition (April 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0374527075
- ISBN-13: 978-0374527075
- Product Dimensions: 21 x 13.9 x 0.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
162,263 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1 in Books > Travel & Holiday > Countries & Regions > Caribbean > Antigua & Barbuda
- #9 in Books > Travel & Holiday > Countries & Regions > Caribbean > Jamaica
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
A brilliant look at colonialism and its effects in Antigua--by the author of Annie John
"If you go to Antigua as a tourist, this is what you will see. If you come by aeroplane, you will land at the V. C. Bird International Airport. Vere Cornwall (V. C.) Bird is the Prime Minister of Antigua. You may be the sort of tourist who would wonder why a Prime Minister would want an airport named after him--why not a school, why not a hospital, why not some great public monument. You are a tourist and you have not yet seen . . ."
So begins Jamaica Kincaid's expansive essay, which shows us what we have not yet seen of the ten-by-twelve-mile island in the British West Indies where she grew up.
Lyrical, sardonic, and forthright by turns, in a Swiftian mode, A Small Place cannot help but amplify our vision of one small place and all that it signifies.
"If you go to Antigua as a tourist, this is what you will see. If you come by aeroplane, you will land at the V. C. Bird International Airport. Vere Cornwall (V. C.) Bird is the Prime Minister of Antigua. You may be the sort of tourist who would wonder why a Prime Minister would want an airport named after him--why not a school, why not a hospital, why not some great public monument. You are a tourist and you have not yet seen . . ."
So begins Jamaica Kincaid's expansive essay, which shows us what we have not yet seen of the ten-by-twelve-mile island in the British West Indies where she grew up.
Lyrical, sardonic, and forthright by turns, in a Swiftian mode, A Small Place cannot help but amplify our vision of one small place and all that it signifies.
About the Author
Jamaica Kincaid was born in St. Johns, Antigua. Her books include At the Bottom of the River, Annie John, Lucy, The Autobiography of My Mother, and My Brother (all published by FSG). She lives with her family in Vermont.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The blurb on the back promises 'rich and evocative prose' and something 'elegant', 'poetic' and 'compelling' . This book was such a disappointment. I learned virtually nothing about the Antiguan people AS Antiguans. Kincaid presents her fellow islanders as nothing more than victims and because she filters everything through the colonised/coloniser lens, the writing is predictable and boring. If you like polemics you'll love this book. I could find nothing poetic in it.
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Small Place is a very simple-written book. With a fascinating setting in Antigua is the story of the extraordinary conditions of the life of the people of Antigua. Jamaica Kincaid's writing portrays not only her bitterness with the legacies of slavery but also her disappointment with the new Antigua, especially the loss of social values and the corruption plaguing the political life and those higher up in society. And she brought it out so succinctly and poignantly that this book clearly articulates the crisis plaguing developing nations, especially Africa that though independent, still have not yet shaken off the negative legacies of colonialism. This is a highly recommendable read.
Also recommended: THE USURPER AND OTHERS, DISCIPLES OF FORTUNE
Also recommended: THE USURPER AND OTHERS, DISCIPLES OF FORTUNE
Format:Paperback
A rather bitter review of Antigua' colonial and post colonial governance as seen from exile in North America. An interesting take on this slave island's current luxury holiday image.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
thank you
a bit slower than expected, but probably due to bad weather in the UK. quick and detailed response to email, thank you
Published on 20 Jan 2010 by E. Hayward
An 80 page moan
Jamaica needs to attend anger management classes if this is the best she can produce. A rambling, depressing, high level gripe was not what I expected, but it's certainly what was... Read more
Published on 15 Sep 2008 by bibliotech
Disappointing
The author clearly has anger issues. The English, Americans, Lebanese and Syrians are all pigs. Europeans are human rubbish. Read more
Published on 8 Sep 2008 by One More Time
A good read
An interesting read from an unusual viewpoint and indeed location. It felt a little simplistic at times, as if Kincaid was really only scratching the surface of the price of... Read more
Published on 7 Sep 2006 by CeCe
A well told first account
I bought this book because I grew up on the glorious island of Antigua. In an instant I'm agreeing to all she says about the airport and all the way through the book. Read more
Published on 4 April 2006 by C. V. McCulloch
A polemic on the political state of Antigua
Kincaid, an ex-Antigua resident, rails at just about everything in Antigua. She highlights what she sees as corrupt government and morally dubious foreign policy and rails at the... Read more
Published on 2 Jan 2002
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