Toyin Falola's memoir, A Mouth Sweeter Than Salt, portrays a boy's perspective on the culture and customs of his country from his perspective as a participant active and observant. From determining his mother's age to joining the fight to free an innocent man, Nigeria-raised Dr. Falola's journey embodies the rich and diverse history that defines Africa. The beginning of the novel places the reader not in Falola's shoes as a child, but rather as an adult scholar attempting to gain information from his family. This proves easier said than done as Falola walks us through the process of obtaining specific dates in a society that deems them irrelevant. By examining the difficulty Falola encounters in this seemingly simple task, the reader begins to understand the way time and space intertwine and weigh in Africa. This concept of “connections between words, space, and ritual” encompasses how Africans perceive the world around them – as a series of interconnected events rather than as specific instances in time (Falola 224). This approach also stems from the concept that the family unit, the village and the elders always come before the individual, making a detail such as a birthday irrelevant when it comes to the well-being of the whole. By introducing the reader to the complexity of African conventions, Falola expands their minds and challenges them to see the impending narrative with uncontaminated eyes. The memoir structure immerses the reader in African culture by incorporating anecdotes, poems, proverbs, and songs. These elements combine to emphasize the importance of oral institutions and to convey the significance of understanding them: "Proverbs must be learned... a proverb is regarded as the 'horse' that takes words to a different level, investing them with meanings , clothing the user in the robe of wisdom" (Falola 53). "As in this case and others I have witnessed, the leader must be equipped with language, making extensive use of proverbs, idioms and references" (Falola 133) While the verses add depth to the story, they often become cumbersome and unnecessary. For example, when talking about the need to keep quiet to hide the whereabouts of one's band, the addition of the proverb "You can't turn on the light." fire when hidden", is superfluous since the reader already has a clear understanding of the meaning of the text (Falola 243).