This essay collection addresses African writing ranging from transcriptions of ancient (Khoikhoi/San) folktales to some of the classic texts of the African English canon as well as more recent writing about urgent contemporary social and gender issues. As the title indicates, Annie Gagiano is fascinated by the way these texts engage with the forces that damage and threaten life and quality of life in various African contexts. She pays tribute – by means of carefully argued analyses – to the authors’ political courage and social concern and to their subtle delineations of African characters’ experiences. Central to her focus is the verbal artistry of these authors’ memorable and complex representations. Her collection as a whole insists on the philosophical and aesthetic importance of African texts of the kind discussed here – to the global reading public as much as to the "real world" of their original contexts.