Synopses & Reviews
"What makes
Whiteman so affecting is DSouzas understanding of what its like to fall in love with people who will never be like you, with a place that will never be home and with a troubled continent that despite your best intentions you can do nothing to save."
People (Critics Choice, four stars)
In a vibrant Ivory Coast village, Christians and Muslims are squaring off for war. Against this backdrop of bloody conflict, Jack Diazan American relief worker--follows the cycles of Africa. From the villagers and his village guardian, Mamadou, he learns of hunting in the rain forest, cultivating the yam, and navigating the nuances of the language. He witnesses witchcraft, storytelling, and chivalry. And together, he and Mamadou realize that hate knows no color and true heroism waits where we least expect it. Brimming with dangerous passions and the pressures of life in a time of war, Whiteman is a stunning debut and a tale of desire, isolation, survival, fear, and humor.
"A powerful debut novel, full of insight and sly humor, about a man who desperately wants to belong to a place that has little need of him. This is a visit to Africa you will not soon forget."St. Louis Post-Dispatch
"It's the quality of vision that makes D'Souza's novel notable . . . In original, unfussy prose, Whiteman suggests, with force and restraint, why a young American serving abroad, however haplessly, might not relish the prospect of having to return home."--The New York Times Book Review (Editors Choice)
TONY DSOUZAs writing has appeared in the New Yorker, Playboy, Salon, Esquire, McSweeney's, and Tin House, among other publications. His story Djamilla” earned a 2007 OHenry Prize. Tony is a recipient of a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and lives in Sarasota, Florida.
Review
"[Q]uirky, seductive and funny....[T]he author has acquired the arts of a master storyteller, and each little tale nestled in this novel has an intoxicating, fireside charm." Laura Miller, Salon.com
Review
"[A] remarkable new novel....While Whiteman lacks the political subtlety of the far-flung novels of, say, Graham Greene or the post-colonial novels of V.S. Naipaul, D'Souza infuses it with great warmth." Chicago Tribune
Review
"Africa may be ultimately unknowable for the author, but this nonfiction novel, his debut, represents a thrilling partial discovery." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"[I]ntensely observed....Tony D'Souza, an ex-Peace Corps volunteer, achieves a delicate balance in creating Jack, a white man...who is a blatant cliché in his quest for African 'authenticity,' but real enough for you to believe in his mission. (Grade: B+)" Entertainment Weekly
Review
"The book has a very real, immediate, nonfiction feel to it." Los Angeles Times Book Review
Review
"[I]n original, unfussy prose...Whiteman suggests, with force and restraint, why a young American serving abroad, however haplessly, might not relish the prospect of having to return home." Wyatt Mason, The New York Times Book Review
Review
"[T]his novel reads more like a short story collection. While each story is enchanting, the impact doesn't linger, and Jack's development isn't totally satisfying. Still, he's an appealing main character....Recommended." Library Journal
Review
"[A] likeable fish-out-of-water tale, generously peppered with parable....D'Souza does a fine job capturing the esprit of Africa and its people at times both stunningly beautiful and horribly violent without succumbing to lazy, occidental characterizations such as 'exotic' or 'mysterious' when describing the cumulative effects of life in a politically unstable and culturally diverse country." Jason A. Smith, The Common Review (read the entire Common review)
Synopsis
In an Ivory Coast village where Christians and Muslims are squaring off for war, against a backdrop of bloody conflict and vibrant African life, Jack Diaz an American relief worker and Mamadou, his village guardian, learn that hate knows no color and that true heroism waits where we least expect it.
During lulls in the violence, Jack learns the cycles of Africa of hunting in the rain forest, cultivating the yam, and navigating the nuances of the language; of witchcraft, storytelling, and chivalry. Despite the omnipresence of AIDS, he courts a stunning Peul girl, meets his neighbor's wife in the darkened forest, and desperately pursues the village flirt. Still, Jack spends many nights alone in his hut, longing for love in a place where his skin color excludes him.
Brimming with dangerous passions and the pressures of life in a time of war, Whiteman is a stunning debut and a tale of desire, isolation, humor, action, and fear.
Synopsis
Brimming with dangerous passions, ubiquitous genies, spirited proverbs, and the pressures of life in a time of war, this extraordinary debut novel about a maverick American relief worker deep in the West African bush is a tale of desire, isolation, humor, action, and fear.
Synopsis
Jack Diaz arrives in Ivory Coast as yet another American relief worker in West Africa. But when religious tensions rise and Muslims and Christians square off for civil war, he quickly becomes something else: acolyte to the village witch doctor, agile polyglot, adopted son of the local chief, reckless maverick to his own aid organization. And most important to the Worodougou people of his village, he becomes Adama Toubabou: Whiteman.
Despite the mounting violence and the psychic isolation it brings, Jack refuses to leave his post, a Muslim village deep in the bush. With no funding and little contact with the outside world, he devotes himself to learning the cycles of life thereof hunting in the rain forest, cultivating the yam, navigating the nuances of the language; of witchcraft, storytelling, and chivalry. Longing for love in a place where his skin color excludes him, he courts Djamilla, the stunning Peul girl; meets Mariam, his neighbors wife, in the darkened forest when the moon is new; and desperately pursues Mazatou, the village flirt, all the while teaching his neighbors about the dangers of AIDS.
Alongside Mamadou, his village guardian, Jack learns that hate knows no color, that heroism waits for us where we least expect it. Brimming with dangerous passions, ubiquitous genies, spirited proverbs, and the pressures of life in a time of war, Whiteman is a harrowing tale of desire, isolation, humor, action, and fear.
About the Author
Tony DSouza is the author of three novels, including the award-winning Whiteman. He has contributed to The New Yorker, Playboy, Esquire, Outside, Salon, Granta, McSweeneys, O. Henry Prize Stories, Best American Fantasy, and elsewhere. A recipient of the Sue Kaufman Prize, Florida Gold and Silver Medals for fiction, and fellowships from the Guggenheim and the NEA, Tony was nominated for a National Magazine Award for coverage of Nicaraguas Eric Volz murder trial and spent three years in Africa with the Peace Corps.