“John Chernoff does it again. This book, like his previous one, is an incredible inspiration. Most of the time we sit around over dinners with friends and talk about how the world is going to hell in a handbasket. But from the unlikely perspective of one of those presumably pitiable statistics comes a laughing voice of hope. In a radical reinvention of the form, in one woman's testimony Chernoff has given birth to the Ulysses of ethnography. It's an epic snapshot, a deeply serious and profound look at another world told as a satiric ironic comedy. Hawa offers a radically alternative approach to life and living — possibly a view more in keeping with the unstable dangerous post-everything world we live in than the out-of-date pretzel logic of the West.” — David Byrne
“Hustling Is Not Stealing is a wonder. Chernoff has a kind of genius for letting us see what distant social worlds look and feel like by focusing on people of special gifts as they maneuver in them.” — Kai Erikson, Yale Univesity
“Hawa is a storyteller's storyteller, and Chernoff writes like a dream. Straight from the heart of Hawa, and the heart of the West African city, this ia a work to outrage and enchant.” — Alma Gottlieb, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
“The originality of this work defies categorization. The book speaks insightfully — with humor and verve — to a wide range of important issues. It is intellectually refreshing and a scholarly achievement of the highest order.” — Paul Stoller, West Chester University
"A groundbreaking book. The story of a bar girl who has spent her life circulating between urban centers and rural homelands in Ghana, Togo, and Burkina Faso, this is a narrative unlike any other I have ever read. The stories of this quick-witted, sharp-tongued, street-savy woman roam across this fractured postcolonial landscape, seamlessly connecting the world of the village (where familial relationships never die and witchcraft captures the imagination) to that of the city (where evading police and government officials and constantly struggling to live off the uncertain spoils of the nightlife are everyday occurrences) to the baroque, surreal, and often obscene world of the European expatriate. Hawa's stories vividly (and troublingly) bring this world to life.” — Charles Piot, Duke University
“Chernoff offers privileged access to an aspect of Africa that those of us who often visit the continent see but really don't understand. Hawa's story is an intriguing example of a life crafted with wisdom and good humor, seeking freedom in the face of a variety of constraints.” — Sheila Walker, University of Texas, Austin
“A resourceful heroine and loyal (if capricious) friend, Hawa is also a connoisseur of local mores, and tartly observes the daily collision of this world with that of the European men among her boyfriends. Casually weaving urban folklore into her engaging tale, Hawa displays an eye for detail and a narrative exuberance that mark her as a gifted storyteller.” — The New Yorker
“There's a restlessness that pervades Hawa’s stories, whether she’s describing her girlhood, her girlfriends, the men she’s lived with or people who’ve tried to get the better of her. In Chernoff’s admiring eyes, Hawa is a classic trickster, cleverly resourceful at manipulating bad situations for her own ends. Her story is a ‘giddy celebration of her will to dignity.’” — Publisher’s Weekly
“This true story of a young West African woman named Hawa both captivates and informs. Chernoff . . . presents lived experience as oral history in Hawa’s own words, as she reveals diverse languages, landscapes, customs, and the historical and/or current culture of the times. This book is as much about pain, anger, poverty, abuse, and a static life as it is about hope, faith, dreams, determinations, perseverance, and an African woman’s self-recovery.” — Library Journal
“These stories are about post-colonialism itself and they have that funhouse mirror flash — making strange familiar, making familiar strange — that the best ethnography should always have. . . . When you read these stories you hear an extraordinary voice: Hawa's quick tongued wit is in every phrase. But in Hawa's distinct voice you also hear — if you have spent any time at all in West Africa — the sounds of that region . . . In short, the stories are Hawa's, but they are also a tour de force in culturally sensitive translation — sound and sense in seemingly effortless tandem. . . . And while Hawa tells the stories, and Chernoff transcribes them as faithfully as he can, preserving her cadences in Ghanaian English, Chernoff is ultimately the author of the text you read . . . Above all he wants us to recognize in Hawa a way of appraising the world and communicating it that is as artful and as tinged with tradition as the tales elders used to tell in the cool evenings of the villages.” — Eric Gable, University of Mary Washington, allAfrica.com
Maxine Heller
5 stars: A Unique View from Inside
“John M. Chernoff's Hustling is Not Stealing is a unique and highly enjoyable insight into a woman who too often would be viewed in stereotypes or lost in statistics about the hand-to-mouth existence of people in what used to be called the Third World. Chernoff focuses upon the life of one woman, Hawa, describing her as small, cute, and a gifted storyteller. She becomes vividly real as she tells her tales of life as a bar girl, doing what she needs to do to survive — and with great humor and style! Chernoff begins with a comprehensive and fascinating introduction, which places Hawa's experience in the broad context of African realities, also explaining his own years in Africa as a student of ethnomusicology and of the social milieu in which Hawa's adventures take place. The reader is drawn in, sometimes laughing, sometimes appalled, often both at the same time. Hawa is often hassled by poverty or by those seeking to exploit her. But she laughs her irresistible laugh — hee hee hee — and gets her own back. She is no victim! As she travels through Ghana, Togo, and Burkina Faso, one gets a sense of excitement and fun, despite the hard times and dangers. Hawa comes off as a very admirable woman, and Chernoff's book is a real pleasure. His valuable scholarship is matched by his humanity. As you peek into Hawa's world, she comes vividly and unforgettably to life and becomes a friend. This book is priceless! I loved it!”
on Exchange Is Not Robbery:
5 stars: Further Along the Journey
“John M. Chernoff's “Exchange Is Not Robbery” continues the adventures of Hawa, the West African bar girl introduced in “Hustling Is Not Stealing,” which appeared several years ago. The two volumes are best read continuously, giving the reader the benefit of Chernoff's comprehensive and fascinating introduction to the first book. Hawa's vibrant personality and humor continue, but as she returns to Burkina Faso, the tone darkens somewhat. She moves between Ouagadougou and the village where her sick father lives, making observations about the sexual politics of being an “ashawo” and the economic stresses of the independent lifestyle she has chosen. Hilarious, but awful at the same time, are the stories of her encounters with French men (of whom she has a very low opinion!) and the lengths to which she must go just to survive. Awful but not hilarious at all is the oppressiveness of village life for women. Hawa never becomes bitter, but she expresses a greater sense of what her autonomy has cost her. This volume is also rich with folklore and magic, which blend seamlessly into the harshest realities. This book, like its predecessor, is unique and absolutely wonderful. I was sorry when it ended.”
Margaret Clay
5 stars: Hustling is Not Stealing
“Read this book in two days. Couldn't put it down. The main character lives in a culture with few options for women. While the choices she makes may be appalling to the typical American, and while her profane language may at first cause dismay, once you get to know her, her intelligence, a certain grace, sense of fairness, sense of irony, strength and courage make you love her in spite of her chosen life. All the while you are intrigued and trying to understand her, she is slyly educating you on the realities of current West Africa in a way that a textbook never could. Excellent book. Don't miss it.”
Steven Mullen
5 stars: Lifting the African Curtain
“A wonderful inside look at modern life in Ghana. Not to be missed by anyone who loves or wants to know more about contemporary Africa. A refereshing approach, easily read, full of detail and color unavailable elsewhere. The author's commitment to the culture and people of Ghana shines through in the colorful translations and brilliant editorial work required to piece together the main character's story.”
on Exchange Is Not Robbery:
Francisco Perez
5 stars: Brilliant sequel
“Such a refreshing take on Africa. Most importantly, the book allows an African woman to tell her own incredible story in her words. Hawa, the protagonist, is the best kind of anthropologist: perceptive, curious, non-judgemental and adventurous. I wish there were a third book in the series.”
Joxn Forrest
4 stars: A Phenomenal Book
“Its hard to describe what I love most about this book . . . the glimpse into a often-ignored slice of a misunderstood culture on a forgotten continent . . . the fierce strength of Hawa, the woman who tells the stories . . . her humor, her joy, her wisdom. In the end though, what kept me turning the pages was the sheer inventiveness and mastery of language. The transcription faithfully captures the amazing things that can happen when english escapes its shackles: this woman, who speaks 10 languages, mixing their vocabulary and construction together, is a masterful communicator and a mesmerizing storyteller. The book is extensively footnoted for explication, but I found Hawa's constructions simultaneously unique and obvious in the best way, and unfailingly charming. . . . Buy this book — read this book — tell your friends about this book.”