“Whiteman is one of the best books I've read in a long while. It brings to life the experiences of an American relief worker in an African village, in which he strives to become accepted there and live as the Worodougou live, farming corn and yams, hunting francolin and bush pig, giving up all of his Western possessions. Jack Diaz, or as the Africans call him, Adama Diomande, goes through many humiliations and frustrations, finally stumbling toward understanding and acceptance only to be forced to leave the village when war breaks out. Bittersweet and in a way heartbreaking, this novel is alive in the way that it makes you taste fresh killed meat, smell earth and sweat, see the depths of jungle and the poverty of the city, feel the brotherhood that exists between Adama and the village of Tegeso. Like Adama at the end, the reader aches to be able to stay in this world, where things have more meaning, where traditions are not skeletons but rather the very breath of everyday life. Humorous at times, filled with the turmoil of what it means to be human, troubling in its evocations of corruption and injustice that is ignored by the West, and colored by the proverbs and folk beliefs of an African people, Tony D'Souza has crafted here a masterpiece. ”
Michael wrote this review Thursday, March 20 2008.
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