{"schema_version":"bf_book_companion_v1","release_id":"20260417T204117Z-pairingsrefresh","book":{"amazon_purchase_url":"https://www.amazon.com/dp/0465009468?tag=bookfrontier-20","asin":"0465009468","authors":["Ngugi Ngugi Wa Thiong'o","Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o"],"book_id":"9780465009466","canonical_url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/something-torn-and-new-0465009468","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780465009466.jpg?v=20260417T204117Z-pairingsrefresh%3A2026-04-17T20%3A41%3A17Z","description":"Novelist Ngugi wa Thiong'o has been a force in African literature for decades: Since the 1970s, when he gave up the English language to commit himself to writing in African languages, his foremost concern has been the critical importance of language to culture. In Something Torn and New , Ngugi explores Africa's historical, economic, and cultural fragmentation by slavery, colonialism, and globalization. Throughout this tragic history, a constant and irrepressible force was Europhonism: the replacement of native names, languages, and identities with European ones. The result was the dismemberment of African memory. Seeking to remember language in order to revitalize it, Ngugi's quest is for wholeness. Wide-ranging, erudite, and hopeful, Something Torn and New is a cri de coeur to save Africa's cultural future.","forthcoming":false,"isbn13":"9780465009466","publication_date":"20090224","publisher":"Basic Books","slug":"something-torn-and-new","subtitle":"An African Renaissance","title":"Something Torn and New"},"discovery":{"categories":{"all":[{"bisac_code":"LIT004010","confidence_band":"medium","label":"African Lit Crit","score":0.8112,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"HIS001020","confidence_band":"medium","label":"East African History","score":0.7888,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"HIS001050","confidence_band":"medium","label":"West African History","score":0.7769,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"hint":[{"bisac_code":"LIT004010","confidence_band":"medium","label":"African Lit Crit","score":0.8112,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"HIS001020","confidence_band":"medium","label":"East African History","score":0.7888,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"HIS001050","confidence_band":"medium","label":"West African History","score":0.7769,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"publisher":[{"bisac_code":"LIT004010","confidence_band":"high","label":"African Lit Crit","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"SOC001000","confidence_band":"high","label":"African American Studies","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"SOC056000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Global Black Studies","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}]},"genres":[{"label":"African Lit Crit","score":0.8112,"slug":"african-lit-crit"},{"label":"East African History","score":0.7888,"slug":"east-african-history"},{"label":"West African History","score":0.7769,"slug":"west-african-history"}],"reader_fit":["Good for readers who enjoy African Lit Crit","Good for fans of Africa","Good for readers who enjoy African Lit Crit and East African History."],"related_lists":[],"series":null,"similar_books":[{"authors":["F. Abiola Irele"],"book_id":"9780195086195","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780195086195.jpg?v=20260417T204117Z-pairingsrefresh%3A2026-04-17T20%3A41%3A17Z","score":10.3879,"title":"The African Imagination","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780195086195"},{"authors":["Stith Thompson","Sidney Littlefield Kasfir"],"book_id":"9780253219220","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780253219220.jpg?v=20260417T204117Z-pairingsrefresh%3A2026-04-17T20%3A41%3A17Z","score":10.2939,"title":"African Art and the Colonial Encounter","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780253219220"},{"authors":["Jago Morrison"],"book_id":"9781526116796","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781526116796.jpg?v=20260417T204117Z-pairingsrefresh%3A2026-04-17T20%3A41%3A17Z","score":9.9511,"title":"Chinua Achebe","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781526116796"},{"authors":["Robert Guest"],"book_id":"9781588342973","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781588342973.jpg?v=20260417T204117Z-pairingsrefresh%3A2026-04-17T20%3A41%3A17Z","score":9.2235,"title":"The Shackled Continent","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781588342973"},{"authors":["Shiva Naipaul"],"book_id":"9780140188264","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780140188264.jpg?v=20260417T204117Z-pairingsrefresh%3A2026-04-17T20%3A41%3A17Z","score":9.1543,"title":"North of South","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780140188264"},{"authors":["Dr John Kinahan"],"book_id":"9781847013729","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781847013729.jpg?v=20260417T204117Z-pairingsrefresh%3A2026-04-17T20%3A41%3A17Z","score":9.0959,"title":"Namib","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781847013729"},{"authors":["Richard Dowden"],"book_id":"9780786741427","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780786741427.jpg?v=20260417T204117Z-pairingsrefresh%3A2026-04-17T20%3A41%3A17Z","score":8.9385,"title":"Africa","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780786741427"},{"authors":["M.G. Vassanji"],"book_id":"9780385671439","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780385671439.jpg?v=20260417T204117Z-pairingsrefresh%3A2026-04-17T20%3A41%3A17Z","score":8.9151,"title":"And Home Was Kariakoo","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780385671439"}],"topics":[],"what_you_get":["Reading lane: African Lit Crit and East African History.","Publisher: Basic Books."]},"llm_signals":null,"source_presence":{"amazon":true,"book_detail":true,"goodreads":true,"llm_signals":false,"similarity_seed":true},"stats":{"amazon_ratings_count":64,"goodreads_ratings_count":176,"goodreads_reviews_count":30,"quality_score":0.893}}