| The Story of the Madman Contributor(s): Beti, Mongo (Author), Editions Juilliard (Prepared by) |
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ISBN: 0813920493 ISBN-13: 9780813920498 Publisher: University of Virginia Press OUR PRICE: $22.28 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: August 2001 Annotation: Widely acclaimed when first published in French in 1994, Mongo Beti's tenth novel, L'histoire du fou, continues the author's humorous yet fierce criticism of the colonial system in Africa and its legacy of governmental corruption. Translated here as The Story of the Madman, the novel gives the English-speaking world Beti's comic satire of the fictional Chief Zoaeteleu and his favorite sons Zoaetoa and Narcisse. In a modern fable that Beti uses to illustrate the problems of a people's disintegrating values in a postcolonial state, Chief Zoaeteleu, a puppet under two dictatorial regimes, is swept into the frontline of politics, where his fortunes unravel. Along with his caustic portrayal of failed government -- clearly a reflection of his native Cameroon -- Beti's realism provides an intriguing view of the struggle for balance between traditional life and imminent change in African culture. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Fiction | Literary |
| Dewey: FIC |
| LCCN: 00069339 |
| Series: Caraf Books: Caribbean and African Literature Translated fro |
| Physical Information: 0.59" H x 6.1" W x 8.5" (0.59 lbs) 192 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Widely acclaimed when first published in French in 1994, Mongo Beti's tenth novel, L'histoire du fou, continues the author's humorous yet fierce criticism of the colonial system in Africa and its legacy of governmental corruption. Translated here as The Story of the Madman, the novel gives the English-speaking world Beti's comic satire of the fictional Chief Zoa teleu and his favorite sons Zoa toa and Narcisse. In a modern fable that Beti uses to illustrate the problems of a people's disintegrating values in a postcolonial state, Chief Zoa teleu, a puppet under two dictatorial regimes, is swept into the frontline of politics, where his fortunes unravel. Along with his caustic portrayal of failed government--clearly a reflection of his native Cameroon--Beti's realism provides an intriguing view of the struggle for balance between traditional life and imminent change in African culture. |