One of the most provocative and original voices in contemporary
literature, Chinua Achebe here considers the place of literature and art
in our society in a collection of essays spanning his best writing and
lectures from the last twenty-three years. For Achebe, overcoming goes
hand in hand with eradicating the destructive effects of racism and
injustice in Western society. He reveals the impediments that still
stand in the way of open, equal dialogue between Africans and Europeans,
between blacks and whites, but also instills us with hope that they will
soon be overcome.