Obama's 'Chinese' brother on the stump at Shanghai Book Fair
Mark Okoth Obama Ndesandjo is a business consultant, restaurant owner, musician, philanthropist and novelist. Did we mention he's also the half brother of Barack Obama?When the Shanghai Book Fair opened its doors yesterday, two authors grabbed the headlines -- one a Nobel Laureate, the other the half-brother of POTUS himself, Barack Obama.
Alongside Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio, winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Literature, Mark Okoth Obama Ndesandjo, was in town to promote the Chinese edition of his book “Nairobi to Shenzhen.” (从内罗毕到深圳)
Partly based on the 45-year-old Ndesandjo’s own life, the self-published novel follows the Kenya-born protagonist David, an aging teacher, from his early days in Nairobi, through his studying and working in the United States to his move to Shenzhen after 9/11 in search of work.
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Subtitled “A novel of love in the East,” the book was first released in English in 2009 and was imported and converted into Chinese by People’s Literature Publishing House in May, 2011.
Ndesandjo was born to Barack Obama Sr., Barack Obama’s father, and his third wife, Ruth Nidesand.
In an interview with "Los Angeles Times," Ndesandjo confessed that “he wrote the book in part to exorcise the bad memories of his childhood [due to his violent father] and to publicize the issue of domestic violence”.
According to "Shanghai Youth Daily," Ndesandjo dodged all questions about Barack Obama during yesterday’s book promotion, with the exception of one line: “I’m always in touch with my brother.”
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The attention-grabbing novelist moved to Shenzhen nine years ago and has worked as a business consultant. He co-owns a restaurant called Cabin BBQ with a Chinese friend.
He is also reported by Chinese media to speak fluent Mandarin, write beautiful calligraphy, volunteer at a local orphanage, have read through the classic Chinese novel “Dream of the Red Chamber” and released three piano albums.
There's no word on whether they took as warmly to the underachieving Le Clézio.
Shanghai Book Fair will run through August 23 at Shanghai Exhibition Center. It opens everyday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and from 9 a.m.-9 p.m. on the weekend. All books are 20 percent off store prices.
Follow Shanghai Book Fair on Sina Blog and Sina Weibo.
