Sosina Wogayehu learnt to do flips and splits at the age of six, sitting on the floor of her parents lounge room in Addis Ababa, watching a German variety show on the only television channel in the land.

Contents: 1.Hurdy-gurdy -- 2.True love at gunpoint -- 3.The problem of the food -- 4.Where passion takes you -- 5.Ghosts and emperors -- 6.Mister Fun -- 7.Asylum -- 8.A leap of faith -- 9.Becoming -- 10.The things we learn -- 11.Success and failure -- 12.The price of living -- 13.The right time and the wrong time -- 14.The arrangements -- 15.On the terrace -- 16.Lalibela.

Includes bibliographical references (page 233)