The novelist (Orient Express, The Man Within) was obsessed by the idea that he must go to Liberia. So he went -- down the African coast, inland with guides. And this is the story. There's amazing vitality, a contagion of enthusiasm, in the telling. There is somewhat the bite in describing conditions that characterized Africa Dances. There is much of what he found there -- there is much of the man himself, through anecdotes and commentary on life. More than a travel book, but sell as travel and autobiography-
