Book cover of Michel the Giant: An African in Greenland

Book description

The gripping true story of one man's ten year expedition from a village in West Africa to the Arctic Circle

WITH A NEW AFTERWORD BY THE AUTHOR

Scorching heat, rich, fertile soil, and treacherous snakes marked the landscape in which Tete-Michel grew up in 1950s Togo, West Africa. When he…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked Michel the Giant as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I found this real-life story of a man from Togo, who becomes obsessed with Greenland as a child and spends years working his way up through Africa and Europe to get there, fascinating.

Not only does it dig deeply into the everyday lives of native Greenlanders – dog-sledding, seal shooting, ice fishing, and a surprisingly open attitude towards sex – but we get a double dose of insight because we get to explore the Inuit way of life from an African’s perspective.

It’s a well-written and amusing account of an amazing and rare adventure; I enjoyed it immensely and would…

If you love Michel the Giant...

Book cover of The Rosewood Penny

The Rosewood Penny by J.S. Fields,

2023 Queer Indie Award Nominee!

The dragons of Yuro have been hunted to extinction.

On a small, isolated island, in a reclusive forest, lives bandit leader Marani and her brother Jacks. With their outlaw band they rob from the rich to feed themselves, raiding carriages and dodging the occasional vindictive…

Want books like Michel the Giant?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Michel the Giant.

Browse books like Michel the Giant

Book cover of This Cold Heaven: Seven Seasons in Greenland
Book cover of This Cold Heaven
Book cover of The Snow People

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,343

readers submitted
so far, will you?

📚 If you like Michel the Giant, you might also like...

Book cover of Portrait of an Artist as a Young Woman

Portrait of an Artist as a Young Woman by Alexis Krasilovsky,

Kate from Jules et Jim meets I Love Dick.

A young woman filmmaker’s journey of self-discovery, set against a backdrop of the sexual liberation movement of the 1970s and 1980s. In Portrait of an Artist as a Young Woman, we follow Ana Fried as she faces the ultimate…

Book cover of Malcolm Before X

Malcolm Before X by Patrick Parr,

Malcolm Before X is about finding a way to continue moving forward after everything has been taken from you. While in prison, Malcolm Little discovered the power of reading and found a way to transform his character and become a better man. This half-biography focuses on that transformation, especially his…

5 book lists we think you will like!