from Abe’s Books

Rapper 50 Cent loses to author Chinua Achebe

I love this story. Super tough rapper 50 Cent has just had his candy ass handed to him by 80-year-old Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe. It appears 50 Cent had not read Things Fall Apart, Achebe’s ground-breaking novel from 1958, or even knew of its existence, and he spent much of 2010 making a movie with the same title.

Achebe had a word in his shell-like (that means ear) and now the movie, about a football player diagnosed with cancer, has been renamed. This Guardian story says 50 Cent offered the author $1 million in order to use the title, Things Fall Apart, but Achebe said no.

Chinua Achebe is my hero for today. Imagine turning down $1 million?

I’d love to see more rapper versus author fights. Next up…Eminem versus Jonathan Franzen with an undercard of Ol’ Dirty Bastard from the Wu-Tang Clan versus Margaret Atwood. I’d pay to see James Frey against Snoop Dog because Snoop would blow him up although Frey would do a lot of trash talking.

[ click to read at Abe’s Books ]