From Publishers Weekly
An ambassador of the government of Angola in Europe, Xitu conceived these stories while imprisoned in a Portuguese jail. Set in the 1940s, the tales in this book are divided into three sections: " 'Mestre' Tamoda" introduces us to the prolix Tamoda, who refers to a toothpick as a "wooden dental probe." In "The Village," Tamoda displays his "verbal dexterosity" at a funeral and a soccer match. "The Town"the best in the collectioncenters on Maraja, a black tennis coach, and Arlete Pinto, the daughter of Portuguese parents. Social climbers, the Pintos are scandalized by their daughter's affair with a "bush black." Once, on a visit to Johannesburg, they made Arlete stay in the hotel alone because her skin was "too dark"her great-grandmother, they are loathe to admit, was black. To protest the Pintos' racism, the town stages a mock wedding with Arlete and Maraja as bride and groom. One wishes that the three stories cohered as a novel, but they nonetheless provide a trenchantand comicinsight into prerevolutionary Angola.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Portugese --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Original Language: Portugese --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
