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Whiteman: A Novel
Whiteman: A Novel
Whiteman: A Novel
Ebook278 pages4 hours

Whiteman: A Novel

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

3/5

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In this “powerful debut novel,” an American relief worker falls in love with the Ivory Coast as the country descends into civil war (St. Louis Post-Dispatch).
 
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.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateApr 9, 2007
ISBN9780547350783
Whiteman: A Novel

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Rating: 3.175 out of 5 stars
3/5

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  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I didn't hate this book as much as I thought I would, though I'm not sure what kind of endorsement that is. It's written by a former peace corps volunteer from my writing workshop this summer, who is very up-and-coming in the writing world. Very smart guy, very charismatic, etc. The book is more of a series of episodes than a novel--a collection of characters from Africa. The transitions from one chapter to the next aren't terribly smooth. That said, the images, the scenes, held my attention and kept me turning pages.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Just finished this book. It has lush descriptions of Africa, along with a glimpse of how life for Peace Corps style volunteers might be in a precarious war-torn zone. Adama Diomande (Jack diaz is his real name, Adama Diomande is the name bestowed on him by his village) is the first person narrator of the book is in Worodougou, a small Muslim village in the north of the Ivory Coast, to educate villagers about AIDS. He finds himself coming to terms with life in a different culture, sans basic necessities, sans even sex. The loneliness and the desperation leads Adama to make some questionable choices - he takes up with a prostitute and his neighbor's wife, and in the biggest irony of all, doesn't use condoms with them. And manages to stay HIV free. If the ostensible message of the book was safe sex, then by those standards this book is a failure. But interesting read overall.

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Whiteman - Liz Darhansoff

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