A Broken People's Playlist

Stories (from Songs)

By: Chimeka Garricks

Narrated by: Nneka Okoye, Atta Otigba

""A dozen interlinked, music-oriented stories set in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, where Garricks was raised... Each songlike story feels like a breakout hit encapsulating the brokenness and the beauty in life’s soundtrack.""—Booklist, starred review

“Beautifully woven . . . a magical delight.”—Hari Kunzru, author of White Tears

A Broken People’s Playlist is set to the soundtrack of life, comprised of twelve music-inspired tales about love, the human condition, micro-moments, and the search for meaning and sometimes, redemption. It is also Chimeka Garricks’s love letter to his native city, Port Harcourt, introducing us to a cast of indelible characters in these loosely interlocked tales.

There is the teenage wannabe-DJ eager to play his first gig even as his family disastrously falls apart—who reappears many years later as an unhappy middle-aged man drunk-calling his ex-wife; a man who throws a living funeral for his dying brother; three friends who ponder penis captivus and one’s peculiar erectile dysfunction; a troubled woman who tries to find her peace-place in the world, helped by a headful of songs and a pot of ginger tea.

Infused with the author’s resonant and evocative storytelling, each page holds “the depth of a novel” (Hari Kunzru); a character, a moment that will—like a favorite song—long linger in the heart and mind.

The characters

This book is breathtaking!!! What an amazing read, I felt and lived every words. I never wanted the stories to end.

Lovely Short Stories

These short stories are very interesting. A quick read but each story draws you in. You feel like you are in Port Harcourt, Nigeria with each story. The writing is great. Well done!

Broken Connections and Closure

Each story leaves space—space for feeling, space for reflection, and space for interpretation. The characters hurt, but it’s not always dramatic or resolved in a neat arc. It’s subtle, layered.

And even when the story ends, it doesn’t feel like it’s truly over—yet you’re not left unsatisfied either. It’s like the stories settle in you rather than wrap up.

Broken People Emotions

Unique idea of meshing short stories inspired by songs! Heart felt collection of stories (some intertwined ) about Nigerian folks revealing deep emotional lives. majority of characters are broken in some form. Story contains grief, abortion, romance, realistic love and trails of Hope. Insightful view of pieces of Nigerian culture.

Beautiful snippets!!!

the stories are human and ethereal at the same time. a pleasant surprise indeed. will definitely listen to this many times.