Prayer Has Spoiled Everything

“Prayer Has Spoiled Everything makes a valuable contribution to the small but substantial literature on bori as practiced in various parts of Africa. With its attention to bori as a living and changing religion that has responded to social developments, it can appeal to historians and anthropologists alike. From the perspective of Islamic studies, the book offers fascinating insights into a rural and small-town society in transition between local and transnational Muslim practice.” - Heather J. Sharkey , African Studies Review

“[A] fine addition to an increasingly dynamic anthropological literature on spirit possession . . . . The pages of the book are filled with local nuances—a testament to Masquelier’s skill as a fieldworker as well as her commitment to long-term study . . . . [A] significant contribution to the anthropology of religion and African studies.” - Paul Stoller , International Journal of African Historical Studies

“This intriguingly titled book is a rich ethnography and analysis of bori -- a term that refers to the spirit beings that inhabit the world of the Mawri people and the possession of practices surrounding them. . . . The most striking aspect of Masquelier’s book is the lushness of her ethnography -- particularly in her descriptions of the spirits themselves and the possession-related ceremonial activity. . . . Through ethnographic vignettes, she sketches an vivid picture of the daily life of the bori mediums and their relationship with their spirit inhabitants. . . . Masquelier’s book is a welcome addition to recent anthropological literature on possession, religion, and resistance.” - Erin Stiles , American Anthropologist

"Adeline Masquelier's Prayer Has Spoiled Everything is welcome both as an introduction to bori among the Mawri, a Hausaphone people of southwestern Niger, and as a review of francophone authors unknown to many hidebound Anglophones. . . . [C]ompelling." - Allen F. Roberts, Africa Today

"Masquelier has given us a sophisticated and ethnographically grounded work that offers much to studies of religion in northern Niger." - Brian Larkin, Journal of Religion

"Throughout her analyses, [Masquelier] tacks between ethnographic and theoretical discussions with an ucommon proficiency. . . . [A]n important discussion . . . . Masquelier is able to paint a vivid ethnographic picture of possession in Africa that touches on a number of central themes within anthropology, including resistance, power, and, chiefly, the politics of religious identity. . . .” - Matthew Engelke , American Ethnologist

“Masquelier locates cultural production at precise moments of colonial and postcolonial relations. The result is both an intimate, densely textured portrait of bori spirits and an exciting demonstration of how people attempt to formulate and appropriate the forces that have undermined their community.”
  - Michael Lambek, author of Knowledge and Practice in Mayotte: Local Discourses of Islam, Sorcery, and Spirit Possession

“With its rich primary data about bori, its creativity and freshness, Prayer Has Spoiled Everything will be of enormous interest to Africanists and to religion scholars of many types.” - Karen McCarthy Brown, author of Mama Lola: A Voodou Priestess in Brooklyn