June 2010: Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood (Fuller)

Post date: Jun 17, 2010 11:44:30 PM

A big thank you to Anne Adams for hosting our June 16 faculty book club lead by Tom Riddell, Associate Dean of the College, Dean of the First-year Class, and Associate Professor of Economics at Smith. We enjoyed the lovely evening out on Anne and Tim's patio for some socializing before moving inside for our book discussion.

Of the 20 alumnae gathered in Anne's library (classes '48 to '05, including Professor Riddell's wife, Meg who is an AC), two have spent significant amounts of time in South Africa and Tanzania. Several others have visited those two countries in particular (and some others) as tourists. A few have visited Egypt, but agree that that part of the continent is different from the Africa Fuller described.

From all, there was much admiration and appreciation for Fuller's writing, which was able to capture the smells and sounds and feeling of Africa, as well as telling a good story. Each chapter kept us engaged and occasionally amused, despite the difficult struggles of her family's life in Rhodesia-then-Zimbabwe, and despite the fierce racism of her white family in southern Africa. We also appreciated that she told the story from her child perspective, yet threaded through the portrayal of life there and through to her life in the US as an adult, we could tell that the adult Fuller has a broader perspective on race and colonialism (as confirmed by the reader's guide in the paperback edition of the book). This was the story of her dysfunctional yet devoted family living in Rhodesia during a war for majority rule, with minimal representation of the African people with whom the family interacted. Fuller still feels that Africa is home -- and that Wyoming is as close as she can get to Africa living in the USA.

We enjoyed hearing the story of how this book was chosen, then decided against, as an incoming first-year required reading selection a few years ago. Tom Riddell (whose tenure at Smith is parallel to Mugabe's in Zimbabwe) who was first-year class dean for several of us at the meeting, outlined the process for how these books are chosen, and described the conflict among the faculty when it came time to approve this book. We can appreciate that it is yet another story of Africa from the perspective of a white person (outsider?), however it is filled with controversial points that could spark lively and educational conversations among incoming Smithies. Many of us remembered assigned reading for incoming students, though the formal discussions around the reading has developed in the past 12 years.

Meg and Tom Riddell were able to share a bit more about the author herself, having dined with her after she spoke at the college during January 2009, when Tom taught an inter-term course on the book. Meg was also a valuable participant in our discussion, raising questions and pointing out tidbits of the story.

Many agreed that this is a re-readable book; some had read it years ago, and re-read it prior to the meeting (or will re-read it now!). Others had their interest piqued to visit Sub-Saharan Africa to experience the powerful force of the continent, its smells and sounds and vast, expansive space, which the book -- and Aimee and Karuna -- described. As Kate said, it really gets under your skin.

Thanks to both Tom and Meg for making this trip on relatively short notice. They flew out that very day, starting off early in the East Coast, so suffered from the time difference as well as travel exhaustion.