The Story of the Madman by Mongo Beti
The novel gives the English-speaking world Beti’s comic satire of the fictional Chief Zoaeteleu and his favorite sons Zoaetoa and Narcisse. In a modern fable that Beti uses to illustrate the problems of a people’s disintegrating values in a postcolonial state, Chief Zoaeteleu, a puppet under two dictatorial regimes, is swept into the frontline of politics, where his fortunes unravel. Along with his caustic portrayal of failed government–clearly a reflection of his native Cameroon–Beti’s realism provides an intriguing view of the struggle for balance between traditional life and imminent change in African culture.
