Wewe is quick on his feet–he will never be accused of windiness–and he knows when to deploy humor and when to jab a sharp...
A beguiling little collection of bon mots, chidings, lampoonery and entertainments related to sub-Saharan Africa.
Right from start–with the title, a comical salute to The Joys of Sex, "one of the most popular books in public libraries in the USA"–Wewe, a Cameroonian now working as a librarian in Brooklyn, has a high time poking fun, paying respect and excoriating various elements of the contemporary African scene. His comments are short and to the point, at times "politically incorrect," he admits, but at others pointedly astute, and they come at the reader like bats out of a cave: fast, swarming, without the pretense of order, but rather like a Guinness Book of World Records of Wewe's fixations and bête noires. He throws off one-liners like a stand-up comic–"There is rampant poverty among the people but they are renowned for coping with it, given the low cost of living"–then gets down to brass tacks about how to tell a fake traditional doctor from a genuine sangoma. He cracks wise on the topic of sex ("Sex Glossary for Africans: Dick is a name but we should also know that it means penis"), then gets serious about the denial of AIDS by a number of African governments, in addition to the grotesquery of genital mutilation, or the absurd hedonistic pursuits of Swazi's King Mswati. He also uses broad satire to ridicule the behavior of officials–as when the late strongman of the Ivory Coast, Robert Guei, quarantined the national soccer team after they lost a tournament–or he will simply point out the venality of a Bokassa, Abacha, Moi, Mobutu, Banda or Goodwill Zwekithini.
Wewe is quick on his feet–he will never be accused of windiness–and he knows when to deploy humor and when to jab a sharp stick in the eye.Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2004
ISBN: 0-9671238-5-2
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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