The book review:
This is a wonderful book. Everyone will enjoy it, but Africanists, especially those who know Kenya, will find it extra fun.

Famous Kenyan author Ngugi Wa Thiongo wrote “Petals of Blood” and “The River Between” that those of you who were teachers in East Africa probably taught. “Wizard of the Crow” is his latest masterpiece. It is a marvelous vehicle for looking at, poking fun at, and seriously thinking about the panoply of current social, economic and political issues that make up the fabric of daily African life. “Wizard of the Crow” is an allegorical novel, that is, it speaks to us on several levels. The story, the characters and the plot are entertaining in and of themselves, but Ngugi obviously is looking much deeper than that in formulating his criticisms of African dictators—among whom he certainly lumps Kenyatta and Moi along with Mobutu and Amin. The novel’s “Ruler” is an amalgamation of them all. Ngugi also excoriates their sycophantic cabinet ministers—read Njonjo, Biwott, etc., the compliant press, and indeed all the self-serving folks who strive to be a part or get a part of the national spoils. He also subjects the World Bank and western diplomats to his critical humor. For example, the democracy-oriented American Ambassador is named Gemstone (Hempstone?). But in the end the butt of the irony and the object of the message is African society itself. It is no happenstance that Ngugi uses a mirror in the novel to help the wizard look into the souls of his clients. The whole book is a mirror designed to help Africans look at themselves, what they have wrought, what they permit and who they are.

The novel is set in a fictitious East African country that closely resembles Kenya. It is ruled by a capricious blood-soiled dictator whose every whim—even before he has one—is rendered into reality by his entourage. Naturally, it is forbidden to talk, think or speculate on the health or demise of the ruler—even when he is reported to have throat cancer or be pregnant. This does not keep two ministers—one with big ears and one with big eyes—each of whom grovels before the master, from competing for favor and possible succession. Their plotting pulls others into a maelstrom of comedic error, miscalculation and deliberate misinformation replete with unreal interrogations and Commissions of Inquiry. Yet (as in real life) this is not comedy, it is serious stuff and missteps result in disfavor and death.

The central character in the plot is the wizard of the crow himself. Kamiti is an honest man who cannot make his way in the corrupt society. He stumbles into becoming a wizard and discovers a gift for divining human frailty. He is drawn into the ministerial competition and an anti-government underground political movement. He faces a moral quandary of whether or how to help those individuals who are driving his nation into morass. Ultimately, matters do come to a conclusion, but not necessarily the one you would expect.

Along the way, Ngugi uses the book to elicit points about ambition, corruption, imperialism, wife beating, rumor, religion and magic. He is a master storyteller who spins this allegory like a fairytale using hyperbole and asides to underline his points. Among the pithy observations that I especially liked were:

“Unlike Indians and Europeans, we (Africans) lack group solidarity. We hate to see one of us succeed.”

“Do you know how white people hate it when a black man comes up with an original idea?”

“Awareness of being wronged was the first step in political self-education.”

“Yet the winner always lived in terror of being displaced by a rival wilier in the ways of sycophancy.”

“The foreign journalists… believed that a news story from Africa without pictures of people dying from wretched poverty, famine or ethnic warfare could not possibly be interesting to their audience back home.”

“I am not asking you to retire from wife beating. How can I ask you to give up what defines modern African manhood?”

There is much more. This is an entertaining book that makes you think about real issues. “Wizard of the Crow” is worth buying. Enjoy a good read!