A CANNIBAL IN MANHATTAN

by Tama Janowitz ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 25, 1987

This fictional memoir of an ""innocent in New York City"" has none of the virtues and all of the flaws of Janowitz's previous work (American Dad, Slaves of New York): her faux naivetÉ and uncontrolled irony make for much tonal confusion, and lots of just plain unfunny jokes. The comic premise is lame as well--here's Manhattan as seen through the eyes of a self. described ""brutal and violently ignorant savage"" from the South Sea island of New Burnt Norton. Mgungu Yabba Mgungu has lazed away 55 years among his slothful tribe, the Lesser Pimbas, whose cannibalism was outlawed after Mgungu's father served up his son's missionary teacher for dinner. Into Mgungu's life comes the beautiful heiress and Peace Corps volunteer, Marcia Fishburn, who takes him away from his three wives, his horde of hogs (which he prefers to his children), and his monotonous diet of yams. This far-from-noble savage has reached an existential crisis on his island, and now craves the fruits of Western civilization. Of course, we're meant to see ""civilization,"" with all its cultural detritus lovingly detailed by Janowitz, as nothing but a sham. In truth, Marcia thinks Mgungu a ""prize""; not only will he humor her chichi friends, but he's also the source for a new and illicit drug--""Joy Paul Guilford,"" a hallucinogen named for another munched-on visitor to New Burnt Norton. Mgungu's rapid rise and fall in the Naked City is hastened by an assortment of hastily drawn characters, from Parker Junius, curator of the Museum of Primitive Cultures, to Joey Tarrantino of Joey's Pizza. ""A victim of circumstance"" à la Candide, Mgungu is duped by one Reynard Lopato, ""a very well known common criminal,"" into making a meal of Marcia--a crime which lands him in jail, writing these very pages. Mgungu's predictable misunderstandings about things (modern art, taxis, homosexuals, etc.) and Janowitz's gross ethnic caricatures add up to a truly uncivilized view of civilization. Illustrative photos, with Janowitz's 15-minute celebrity friends playing the major roles, suggest the shameless self-promotion involved here.

Pub Date: Sept. 25, 1987

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Crown

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1987

Categories: FICTION