Growing up is a strange affair for Sam, a young Nigerian, who lives in a slum called The Blocks. His father only speaks to his children once he's drunk enough alcohol, and his mother won't accept that Sam is different from his siblings. Sam is formed by the people he meets: a young gay man he can't rescue from his tormentors, a girl whose rapist escapes when the women of the block seek justice, and Pa Suku, a strange figure who opens Sam's eyes to books, music, poetry, and jazz. When Sam goes to college, he is faced with his own lack of belonging and confronts his own sexuality. This book is the lyrical, challenging account of the multiple lives of a young Nigerian who refuses to accept that he has been shaped by the traumas of his past.