John
Ouma, the ‘City Kid’ himself, has been brought back to life!
He has been given a new life in an e-reader, now available in
the Amazon kindle store.
Click her to buy the kindle book from Amazon.co.uk (£): The City Kid from Amazon UK
Click here to buy from Amazon.com (($): The City Kid from Amazon.com
How
do I feel about this? Fantastic! He has been my fictional friend for
over 40 years, although in recent years he has been rather forgotten.
Okay, I admit it: he had been consigned to history.
It
was way back in1970 when I first got the idea of writing a sort of
African ‘prodigal son’ story, while I was teaching in a Ugandan
secondary school. I can’t recall how I settled on the name ‘John
Ouma’. Maybe it was suggested by a colleague of mine named Moses
Ochwo. Anway, the name Ouma is a genuine Ugandan name commonly found
in certain regions of the country.
I
didn’t want an unusual name because the hero (or is he an
anti-hero? – you decide!) of the story was meant to be a sort of
Everyman figure. He was intended to embody attitudes and experiences
which were, and are, common to so many people – especially the
young as they face the choices and challenges of growing up.
At
the same time, John Ouma is also a very particular young man, and I
hope the new edition of The City Kid, which has been
extensively rewritten since the first version back in the ‘70s, has
given the main character a bit more depth and individuality. Yes, he
is typical in many ways, but he is also his own man in very
particular circumstances.
I’ve
tried to bring this ‘city kid’ into the 21st century.
His office (unlike the one where he worked in the first edition) now
has computers. Mobile telephone networks cover most of the country,
even the upcountry village of Mkandu where he has grown up. But his
ambitions remain the same: to make it ‘big’ in the city, to enjoy
the company of girlfriends, to drive a sporty car and to make a
financial success of his life. And the same fault lines appear: his
weakness when faced with temptation, his proneness to overspending
and debt and his reluctance to admit his need of God.
So
here he is, John Ouma, the city kid, who was dead but is now alive
again. Even if you have never seen or even heard of the first
edition, please download your copy from Amazon and discover why this
young man from a small African village can speak to all of us, in any
continent and from any background.
Click her to buy the kindle book from Amazon.co.uk (£): The City Kid from Amazon UK
Click here to buy from Amazon.com (($): The City Kid from Amazon.com
Clive Lewis (author)
