9th Ave: Sarah Ladipo Manyika and Vendela Vida

This event will be held at our 9th Ave. location.

Sarah Ladipo Manyika in conversation with Vendela Vida about her new book, Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun.

Praise for Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun

"Dr. Morayo Da Silva is one of the most memorable characters you are likely to encounter on the page – intelligent, indomitable, author and survivor of a large life. In dreamlike prose, Manyika dips in and out of her present, her past, in a story that argues always for generosity, for connection, for a vigorous and joyful endurance." —Karen Joy Fowler, author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, shortlisted for 2014 Man Booker Prize

"If aging be a lamp, then Morayo, the protagonist in Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun is a mesmerising glow. Astute, sensual, funny, and moving." —NoViolet Bulawayo, author of We Need New Names, shortlisted for 2013 Man Booker Prize

"From the instant you pick it up, you know that you will privy to the most intimate secrets. A beautiful, important new novel. " —Peter Orner, author of Love and Shame and Love

About Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun

Morayo Da Silva, a cosmopolitan Nigerian woman, lives in hip San Francisco. On the cusp of seventy-five, she is in good health and makes the most of it, enjoying road trips in her vintage Porsche, chatting to strangers, and recollecting characters from her favourite novels. Then she has a fall and her independence crumbles. Without the support of family, she relies on friends and chance encounters. As Morayo recounts her story, moving seamlessly between past and present, we meet Dawud, a charming Palestinian shopkeeper, Sage, a feisty, homeless Grateful Dead devotee, and Antonio, the poet whom Morayo desired more than her ambassador husband. 

A subtle story about ageing, friendship and loss, this is also a nuanced study of the erotic yearnings of an older woman.