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Glittering City

Glittering City

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  • Create Date：2021-04-02 14:54:31
  • Update Date：2025-09-07
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  • Author：Cyprian Ekwensi
  • ISBN：0241339847
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Summary

'"Forget all your fears now。 Have a fling this night"'

Untrustworthy， charming Fussy Joe spins stories and breaks hearts in this rollicking story set in the 'sensational city' of 1960s Lagos。

Penguin Modern: fifty new books celebrating the pioneering spirit of the iconic Penguin Modern Classics series， with each one offering a concentrated hit of its contemporary， international flavour。 Here are authors ranging from Kathy Acker to James Baldwin， Truman Capote to Stanislaw Lem and George Orwell to Shirley Jackson; essays radical and inspiring; poems moving and disturbing; stories surreal and fabulous; taking us from the deep South to modern Japan， New York's underground scene to the farthest reaches of outer space。

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Reviews

Bloodorange ，

Probably the first disappointment in this series - reading this did not leave any trace in me， although structurally could be interesting。

Istiningdyah ，

Wrap-Up review Wrap-Up review 。。。more

Safara ，

Bacaan sekali duduk。 Ceritanya seputar womanizer yang akhirnya berakhir tragis hidupnya karena mau kabur dari polisi。

Kymberly Courage ，

A nice short read about a young man in Lagos， whose dubious character eventually led to his ultimate demise。 You'll understand and appreciate the novella better if you are African or have a knowledge of how Lagos operates。 I think the title greatly complements the story line。 Similar to the American dream most attributable to the Big Apple， Nigerians also have this dream and Lagos is known as the hub for such success。 Glittering City was published in the 60's and Lagos ceased to be the capital i A nice short read about a young man in Lagos， whose dubious character eventually led to his ultimate demise。 You'll understand and appreciate the novella better if you are African or have a knowledge of how Lagos operates。 I think the title greatly complements the story line。 Similar to the American dream most attributable to the Big Apple， Nigerians also have this dream and Lagos is known as the hub for such success。 Glittering City was published in the 60's and Lagos ceased to be the capital in 1991， so Abuja might be the blitz now as it is the current capital。 But， I believe， the point the plot aimed to achieve was finely executed。 The Glittering city is full of lights， hopes and dreams and some will do anything and everything to fit in， while others， as the maxim goes， "if you can't beat them then join them"。 And by joining them some create false illusions and deceptions of a life they yearn， but could equally dibble and dabble into many ventures to gain the necessary exposure。In the Glittering city， you can be whoever you want to be。 。。。more

Jessie （Zombie_likes_cake） ，

I bought this mint colored cutie during my last travel adventure in a lovely book shop in Venice。 I love travelling and I wanted to start the tradition to always bring a tiny book along with me to future travel destinations， leave a little note in it and send it off to other travel readers or maybe local readers by placing it in a cafe， free library or a hostel/ hotel etc。 But who knows when a next trip is going to happen？ Who knows if this book will be able to fulfill its purpose？ I decided to I bought this mint colored cutie during my last travel adventure in a lovely book shop in Venice。 I love travelling and I wanted to start the tradition to always bring a tiny book along with me to future travel destinations， leave a little note in it and send it off to other travel readers or maybe local readers by placing it in a cafe， free library or a hostel/ hotel etc。 But who knows when a next trip is going to happen？ Who knows if this book will be able to fulfill its purpose？ I decided to read it now anyway （since my reading attention is a complete disaster zone I wanted something short and contained）， hoping I can still pass it on to a traveling stranger one day。 "Glittering City" intrigued my in the first place because I like stories with strong settings and this promised a look at Lagos （by the way， I really appreciate that Penguin ventured out of the traditional frame of British and American （and maybe Russian） Classics by looking at world literature a bit。 More of that！ This is such a great format to introduce oneself to classics from lesser represented countries）。 While I read stories set in Lagos before， this reminded me that Nigeria has an interesting and buzzy literary scene that I should look into a bit more。 The story in here is solid， its's fine， but I honestly doubt it will stick with me。 I liked Ekwensi's writing though， it has a certain 60's charme that I sometimes like （on the flipside it was also a book of its time in the lackluster portrayal of the female characters）。 The story is filled with vibrancy， night lights and city air: I really enjoyed that。 The main character Fussy Joe， a trumpet player in a Lagos night club， is the kind who has a woman in every part of town and makes his path on little scams and tricks until he meets his final downfall。 I am not saying this story is without appeal but it wasn't enough to fully captivate me。 I found the gullible women a bit hard to believe， how much they all just loved him no matter what he ended up doing。 But the pacing and the vibe are good， so overall I have no hard feelings towards this but part of me thinks it might have worked better as a full novel with more layers and details。 Then again， I am not sure I want to read a whole novel about a womanizer。。。I liked getting out of my comfort reading hole with this， I need that once in a while and who knows， who ever I will end up giving this book to might gain a lot more from it than I did。 。。。more

Anita ，

An unexpected take on a coming of age love story。

Rhys ，

Ekwensi is probably my favourite of the old school 1950s African writers。 This long short-story （a novelette？） is a picaresque featuring highlife music， beautiful women and comical misunderstandings。 The main character Fussy Joe is a scammer and a lothario who finds out that there are consequences to living that kind of life。

Jo ，

Glittering City starts off reasonably well introducing us to Fussy Joe， a complete cad who cheats and lies his way around town and around women。 We meet the lovely Essi and watch their interaction as well as Lilli the mother of his child。 The language is simple although there are a few anachronisms that take you out of the story and you get caught up in 1960’s Lagos。 Unfortunately the story turns into a kind of action movie with car chases and histrionics towards the end which seems strange in s Glittering City starts off reasonably well introducing us to Fussy Joe， a complete cad who cheats and lies his way around town and around women。 We meet the lovely Essi and watch their interaction as well as Lilli the mother of his child。 The language is simple although there are a few anachronisms that take you out of the story and you get caught up in 1960’s Lagos。 Unfortunately the story turns into a kind of action movie with car chases and histrionics towards the end which seems strange in such a short tale but I would happily try something else by Ekwenski。 。。。more

Benino ，

Quite a sweet short story， about the downfall of liars and those who fall for them。 Would be moralistic， yet is told with warmth for the flaws of the tale's characters， and with enough cinematic detail to imbue the characters with a fateful elegance and give poignancy to their self-deceit。 Quite a sweet short story， about the downfall of liars and those who fall for them。 Would be moralistic， yet is told with warmth for the flaws of the tale's characters， and with enough cinematic detail to imbue the characters with a fateful elegance and give poignancy to their self-deceit。 。。。more

Jayesha ，

Maybe I mistakenly expected more of 'Nigeria' or 'Africa' in this book when I bought it- my bias， my bad。 In that sense I liked that it was a straightforward， entertaining story， if a bit predictable。 I'd like to read more of the author's work to expand my opinion on his writing。 Maybe I mistakenly expected more of 'Nigeria' or 'Africa' in this book when I bought it- my bias， my bad。 In that sense I liked that it was a straightforward， entertaining story， if a bit predictable。 I'd like to read more of the author's work to expand my opinion on his writing。 。。。more

leynes ，

Whilst perusing a new African bookshop here in Berlin， I picked up Glittering City by Cyprian Ekwensi。 Yes， I'm a cheap hoe， and no， I don't have any regrets。 My two bucks were very well spent on this book。 Even though I didn't care much for the story， I'm definitely interested in Cyprian as a writer and cannot wait to pick up Jagua Nana next; I just need to finish Achebe's African Trilogy first， no biggie， right？ This is the reason why I appreciate Penguin for including and publishing diverse a Whilst perusing a new African bookshop here in Berlin， I picked up Glittering City by Cyprian Ekwensi。 Yes， I'm a cheap hoe， and no， I don't have any regrets。 My two bucks were very well spent on this book。 Even though I didn't care much for the story， I'm definitely interested in Cyprian as a writer and cannot wait to pick up Jagua Nana next; I just need to finish Achebe's African Trilogy first， no biggie， right？ This is the reason why I appreciate Penguin for including and publishing diverse and forgotten-about voices， and thus making them more accessible to the public。 I would have never heard of Cyprian Ekwensi without Penguin's new Mini Modern Classics series， and that's a damn shame。 Whilst Chinua Achebe is generally praised as the father of modern African literature， most people don't know other African writers， let alone of the fact that Achebe really wasn't the first African writer to publish to international acclaim。 Cyprian Ekwensi was born in Nigeria in 1921， the son of an elephant hunter。 In early life， he worked as a forestry officer in Nigeria and as a pharmacist in Romford， Essex。 On returning home， he wrote his first novel， People of the City （1954）， which was one of the first Nigerian novels to be published internationally。 Jagua Nana， his most famous book， appeared in 1961 and won the Dag Hammarskjöld prize in literature， though it was banned in schools and attacked by the church。 In later life Ekwensi worked in broadcasting， politics and as a pharmacist， while writing over forty books and scripts。 He died in 2008， survived by his wife and nine children。Set in 1960s Lagos， Glittering City follows Fussy Joe， an untrustworthy and manipulative Jazz player， who makes a living by feeding off his various love affairs and living on the edge。 He takes naive women from the villages under his wing in hopes of sex and a fun time， by introducing them to the buzz of the city and the exciting night life。 He doesn't seem to have one serious thought in his life， and he doesn't bother about anything。 And even though Fussy Joe gets more depth to him as the story moves along， he remained a highly flawed and unlikeable character。 I found it very interesting how Cyprian Ekwensi juxtaposed Fussy Joe's way of life （"Forget all your fears now。 Have a fling this night。"） with the more reasonable voices of the women in the city （"He doesn't bother if his wickedness spoils your whole life。"）; I never had the feeling that Fussy Joe's questionable actions were romanticised， hell， often he was downright called out for being deceitful， tricky and untrue， but he was still presented as a charming figure， which I found kind of off-putting。 Throughout the narrative I never understood why all of these women fell for him， as he didn't have any money and was never one to stick around。Furthermore， Glittering City was a very ambitious short story as it tried to depict not only Fussy Joe's life in Lagos， but also the events that eventually led to his downfall。 And， not gonna lie， I found the ending hella satisfying （"Only the man Joe was left; and he was not man at all。"） but I thought the means that Cyprian chose to get their were kind of rushed and cheesy。 When all of his shady activities come down on him and he even has to flee from the police， the whole flight was very over the top and its fatal ending， too。 Nonetheless， I am incredibly happy this short story introduced me to Cyprian Ekewnsi as a writer， as I really enjoyed his writing style。 I was incredibly impressed by how well the story flowed （even though it did have some pacing issues） and just how agreeable I found his way of expressing himself。 There are volumes in the Penguin Mini series that took me ages to read because the writing was just way too dense， but I managed to read Glittering Cit during one train ride; that's a good sign！ 。。。more

Lilly Minasyan ，

“Forget all your fears bow。 Have a fling this night。”A story about a man named Fussy Joe or a typical worthless human being， who likes to play with women’s hearts and women who are not smart enough to see through his bullshit。 Glad， he did bit get away。 First book from this author。 Pretty good！

Peter ，

To qoute Lurch in the Addams Family。。。"Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrr" To qoute Lurch in the Addams Family。。。"Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrr" 。。。more

Fabrizio Ciatti ，

Once again this marvelous Penguin's collection presented me with the chance to come across an author like Cyprian Ekwensi that I would have hardly known otherwise。 'Glittering city' is a short story about Fussy Joe and Lagos， the Nigerian city that serves as the stage for Fussy Joe's nocturnal adventures。Fussy Joe is a charming， deeply amoral trumpeter。 He divides his life between chasing women and playing jazz music。 No woman can resist the fascination for this character， for his humor and intr Once again this marvelous Penguin's collection presented me with the chance to come across an author like Cyprian Ekwensi that I would have hardly known otherwise。 'Glittering city' is a short story about Fussy Joe and Lagos， the Nigerian city that serves as the stage for Fussy Joe's nocturnal adventures。Fussy Joe is a charming， deeply amoral trumpeter。 He divides his life between chasing women and playing jazz music。 No woman can resist the fascination for this character， for his humor and intriguing sort of Bohemian lifestyle。 They all inevitably fall in love with him as he makes them feel special and unique。 Fussy Joe is as if surrounded by an aura of magic。 He casts a spell on all his young beautiful lovers who cannot free themselves from this fatal attraction even when he proves them he is worth nothing of their time。 Fussy Joe is not even responsible enough to provide for his own child and care for the only woman， Lilli， who seems to truly love him。 The story is entertaining and Ekweni's style is captivating。 He is especially good at evoking the crazy and dizzy atmosphere of Lagos， the second main character of the story。 I was really impressed by his cinematic style of putting dialogues and events into words。 Always concise， never too wordy and yet extremely evocative and realist。 Ewkensi does not judge his characters， his intent does not go beyond the attempt to portray aspects of his society。 。。。more

Kirsty ，

In Cyprian Ekwensi's short story， 'untrustworthy， charming Fussy Joe spins tall tales and breaks hearts in this rollicking story set in the "sensational city" of 1960s Lagos。' First published in 1966， reading Glittering City was my first taste of Ekwensi's work。 I found that the opening descriptions of person and place helped to set the tone of the whole， rather than paying too much attention to the scene。 I did find that Nigeria was used barely at all as a setting， aside from several short and In Cyprian Ekwensi's short story， 'untrustworthy， charming Fussy Joe spins tall tales and breaks hearts in this rollicking story set in the "sensational city" of 1960s Lagos。' First published in 1966， reading Glittering City was my first taste of Ekwensi's work。 I found that the opening descriptions of person and place helped to set the tone of the whole， rather than paying too much attention to the scene。 I did find that Nigeria was used barely at all as a setting， aside from several short and random descriptions of Lagos。 I know that this is a short story， but I would have enjoyed more content like this within it。 Fussy Joe has depth to him， and comes across largely as an untrustworthy creep。 When the story begins， he takes a young girl， who has arrived alone at the train station， back to his room in another part of Lagos。 It is here that she begins to feel frightened: 'All of the tales she had heard about the bad men of the city came crawling back。 They were the exciting stories they whispered after lights out in the boarding-house。'I felt rather uncomfortable whilst reading parts of this story。 Whilst I enjoyed Ekwensi's prose style， and found the whole well written and nicely paced， there were elements which detracted from my enjoyment。 I did not like Fussy Joe at all， or his constant dishonesty; he tells various people that he is employed in all manner of different jobs， and has several women on the go at once。 Throughout， I could not quite tell in which the direction the story was going， and it did surprise me in a couple of places。 There did feel at times as though there was too much going on in the story， and whilst I enjoyed some elements， others I felt indifferent to， or disliked altogether。 I'm not going to rush to read any of Ekwensi's other work， but I would be intrigued to try another of his short stories at some point， just to see how it compares。 。。。more

Matthew Fleming ，

Quite bizarrely paced and a little annoying in the first half - but stick with it as the ending is really brilliant！

Alex ，

The writing was beautiful and felt like it flowed off the page。 The story on the other hand didn’t really do anything for me， but it was interesting to see so many parallels to life in Nigeria to those in the USA。 Would definitely consider more works by this author。 PS-I am loving these penguin modern classics。 Can’t wait for my little black classics to arrive！！

Ilse ，

Now， listen！ Forget all your fears now。 Have a fling this night。 You see？ Life is short and must be enjoyed。 O that restless， vibrant and tempting big town life that with its bedazzling lustre and bustling energy sucks in gullible and innocuous newcomers， ingénues coming from the rural areas， young women falling into the ostensibly loving but actually preying arms of the night – a boisterous biotope where hagglers and scroungers thrive， men like Fussy Joe， taking his stand at the station to seiz Now， listen！ Forget all your fears now。 Have a fling this night。 You see？ Life is short and must be enjoyed。 O that restless， vibrant and tempting big town life that with its bedazzling lustre and bustling energy sucks in gullible and innocuous newcomers， ingénues coming from the rural areas， young women falling into the ostensibly loving but actually preying arms of the night – a boisterous biotope where hagglers and scroungers thrive， men like Fussy Joe， taking his stand at the station to seize his chance。 Set in the city of Lagos in the 1960s – the Glittering City from the title – this novella by the prolific Nigerian author Cyprian Ekwensi （1921-2007） - considered to be one of the fathers of the modern West African novel - was first published in 1966。 Basically it is a jazzy and slightly melodramatic story about the life and downfall of （depending on your point of view） an inveterate filou， or rather a voyou， a trickster with some thuggish features， dancing through life swindling in shady businesses and playing the trumpet in night clubs， lying and deceiving all and sundry， also his wife and son， his fellow musicians， gallivanting from one mistress to another flirt， seducing and exploiting these women with a smile。 The hectic， fast-paced rhythm， the fine evocation of the lively chaos， intensity and noise of the city and the seamy nocturnal nightclub atmosphere together with some scenes reminiscing of Godard’s A bout the souffle are what gives the story a cinematic tone and dynamic feel; somewhat irking were the blind adoration of the women for this windbag of a protagonist， making fools of themselves by flying at each other because of him， and I have to admit I was unable to sympathize with the protagonist starring in his empty life， his irresistible attractiveness as depicted by Ekwensi left me cold。 I see little more in him than the proverbial grasshopper from the fable of Jean de la Fontaine - Fussy Joe， the kind of amoral charmer and lady-killing sponger I praise myself lucky only to know from stories and of which I hope my daughter will never meet or if so will avoid like the plague。 I am not sure yet if I would read Ekwensi’s most renown and highly praised novel Jagua Nana - maybe I’d rather revisit Buchi Emecheta’s The Joys of Motherhood， which in a sense could be seen a counterpart to Glittering City， addressing the roles of and relations between men and women in Nigeria as told from a woman’s perspective， and which， to be honest， impressed me far more than this。 。。。more

Dane Cobain ，

Out of all of the Penguin Mini Moderns that I’ve read so far， this one feels the most complete。 Set in Lagos， Nigeria， we follow the life of Fussy Joe， a musician who lives life to the full。 I enjoyed it。

Shubhangi Sood ，

Riveting read！

Russio ，

The bustling Lagos is the wonderfully realised setting for this kaleidoscopic tale of Fussy Joe， a wide boy and philanderer extraordinaire。 Trailing him through his increasingly complicated love-life， one gets the sense that the city is just not big enough for him。 Joe is a trumpeter and I imagined this with a wild jazz soundtrack behind it throughout。 It creates quite a spell。

Steffi ~mereadingbooks~ ，

I get that this is a story that needs to be read in context。 I love that Penguin Modern has included a Nigerian author from the 60s in their collection。And I'm sure I would've never come into contact with Ekwensi's work if it weren't for this little book。Unfortunately， this was not for me。 The main character - a not very likable man-about-town roaming the city of Lagos - has been written for the reader to hate him。 He's arrogant， he's a liar， he's manipulative。 At the same time he seems to have I get that this is a story that needs to be read in context。 I love that Penguin Modern has included a Nigerian author from the 60s in their collection。And I'm sure I would've never come into contact with Ekwensi's work if it weren't for this little book。Unfortunately， this was not for me。 The main character - a not very likable man-about-town roaming the city of Lagos - has been written for the reader to hate him。 He's arrogant， he's a liar， he's manipulative。 At the same time he seems to have his qualities because the women （and in time also the reader） fall for him。The thing is， I found the prose pretty bland and the story a bit too linear。 It's not a bad text， I just expected something a bit more exciting。 。。。more

Ronan Mcdonnell ，

This is Nick Cave's Bunny Munroe， 40 years before it happened and a continent away。An odd little book， it follows the intensely dislikable protagonist Fussy Joe。 In doing so we meet his many women and strangely end up knowing more about them than we do him。 And that's no bad thing by any stretch。It does conjure up another world， another time。 The city comes alive and Africa feels like being on the cusp of growth。 Time has since intervened to show this for a foolish hope， but that sense of a self This is Nick Cave's Bunny Munroe， 40 years before it happened and a continent away。An odd little book， it follows the intensely dislikable protagonist Fussy Joe。 In doing so we meet his many women and strangely end up knowing more about them than we do him。 And that's no bad thing by any stretch。It does conjure up another world， another time。 The city comes alive and Africa feels like being on the cusp of growth。 Time has since intervened to show this for a foolish hope， but that sense of a self-assurance and vision is there in the book。 。。。more

T P Kennedy ，

An engaging little novella。 A nice sample of this author's work。 It's warm， populated by interesting characters and rattles along。 Good fun。 An engaging little novella。 A nice sample of this author's work。 It's warm， populated by interesting characters and rattles along。 Good fun。 。。。more

Helen Marquis ，

Welcome to Lagos and here's Fussy Joe to welcome you to the city。 If you're beautiful， young， female and alone， he'll take you under his wing， show you a good time that， more likely than not， will turn into a bad time for you， all while his wife and child sit at home waiting。。。。 This short tome is packed with vivid depictions of the wild side of Lagos， with bars filled with dancing， drinks and laughter。 A glossy， shiny， happy place， with a wafer-thin veneer， beneath which lies a seedy underbelly Welcome to Lagos and here's Fussy Joe to welcome you to the city。 If you're beautiful， young， female and alone， he'll take you under his wing， show you a good time that， more likely than not， will turn into a bad time for you， all while his wife and child sit at home waiting。。。。 This short tome is packed with vivid depictions of the wild side of Lagos， with bars filled with dancing， drinks and laughter。 A glossy， shiny， happy place， with a wafer-thin veneer， beneath which lies a seedy underbelly of disreputable petty criminals preying on the weak and vulnerable。 The women who fall for Fussy Joe's lies are a frustrating bunch。 You'll find yourself screaming at the pages， "NO！ Don't do it！！" over and over again。 However， karma is lurking in the side streets， and as the net closes in around the wicked web he's woven， his day of reckoning is on the way。。。This is a GREAT read。 Totally loved it！ Small but perfectly formed and filled with rich characters。 I can't recommend this strongly enough！ 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Glittering City

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Glittering City&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Glittering City&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0