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WHITEMAN is an extraordinary debut novel about a maverick American relief worker deep in the West African bush. Although funding for his official mandate has been cut off, Jack Diaz refuses to leave his post, a Muslim village in the Ivory Coast, as Christians and Muslims square off for war. Against a backdrop of bloody sectarian conflict and vibrant African life, Jack and his village guardian, Mamadou, learn that hate knows no color, that true heroism waits for us where we least expect it.
During lulls in the violence, Jack learns the cycles of Africa—of hunting in the rainforest, cultivating the yam, navigating the nuances of the language; of witchcraft, storytelling, and chivalry. Despite the omnipresence of AIDS, he courts Djamilla, the stunning Peul girl, meets Mariam, his neighbor's wife, in the darkened forest when the moon is new, and desperately pursues Mazatou, the village flirt. Still, Jack spends many a night alone in his hut, longing for love in a place where his skin color excludes him.
Brimming with dangerous passions, ubiquitous genies, spirited proverbs, and the pressures of life in a time of war, WHITEMAN is a tale of desire, isolation, humor, and fear.
The Wall Street Journal and Vanity Fair heralded Whiteman as one of the most anticipated novels of the year, Nerve Magazine nominated it for Best Sex Scene of the Year, and it has debuted to widespread critical acclaim.
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