A Man of Good Hope

From one of South Africa's most distinguished journalists-the wrenching, masterfully told story of a Somali man whose life has been shaped equally by violence, displacement, and fierce determination.

Asad Abdullahi's life has been one of brutality and struggle, but also of remarkable strength of spirit. He was forced into exile in 1991 at the age of eight after witnessing his mother's murder by Somali militiamen. On his own he moved from town to town, country to country, refugee camp to refugee camp, relying on strangers and distant relatives but often left to fend for himself. When Jonny Steinberg first met Asad in 2010, he and his wife and son were living in a desolate displaced persons camp in South Africa, victims of violence against foreign nationals and seeking what seemed unattainable refugee status in America. From interviews with Asad himself and with people in Europe and the United States who knew Asad's parents, from reports of nongovernmental organizations and international newspapers, Steinberg has brilliantly pieced together the story of Asad's profoundly moving quest for peace and stability, placing it in the context of the Somali Diaspora.

JONNY STEINBERG was born and bred in South Africa. He is the author of the critically acclaimed Three Letter Plague, published by Vintage, and Midlands and The Number, both of which won South Africa's premier nonfiction literary award, the Alan Paton Award. Steinberg was educated at Wits University in Johannesburg and at Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.