title: Wizard of the Crow: A Novel
author:  Ngugi wa Thiong'o 
description: <i>Starred Review.</i> The fictional Republic of Aburiria chronicled in this sprawling, dazzling satirical fable is an exaggeration of sordid African despotism. At the top, a grandiose Ruler with "the power to declare any month in the year the seventh month" and his sycophantic cabinet plan to climb to heaven with a modern-day Tower of Babel funded by the Global Bank; beneath them, a cabal of venal officials and opportunistic businessmen jockey for a piece of the pie; at the bottom are the unemployed masses who wait in endless lines behind every help-wanted sign. Kamiti, an archetypal New Man with two university degrees and no job prospects, sets up shop as a wizard; with the help of Nyawira, member of both an underground dissident movement and a feminist dance troupe, he dispenses therapeutic sorcery to a citizenry that finds witchcraft less absurd than everyday life. Kenyan novelist Thiong'o (<i>Petals of Blood</i>) mounts a nuanced but caustic political and social satire of the corruption of African society, with a touch of magical realismor, perhaps, realistic magic, as the wizard's tricks hinge on holding a not-so-enchanted mirror to his clients' hidden self-delusions. The result is a sometimes lurid, sometimes lyrical reflection on Africa's dysfunctionsand possibilities. <i>(Aug.)</i> <br />Copyright  Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
zlib_text: 
  
  
  
  
  
  THE LAST
  
  WIZARD
  
  AT THE END OF THE WORLD
  
  An Arestus Adventure
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  MARK WALLACE MAGUIRE
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  Copyright (C) 2020
  
  Mark Wallace Maguire
  
  The Last Wizard
  
  at The End of The World
  
  An Arestus Adventure
  
  All rights reserved.
  
  
  
  No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in
  any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other
  electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the
  publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews
  and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.
  
  
  
  Mark Wallace Maguire
  
  Speckled Leaf Press
  
  
  
  First Edition 2020
  
  
  
  Map by Oscar Paludi “Exoniensis”
  
  
  
  Discover more about this book and the author www.markwallacemaguireauthor.com.
  
    
  
  ALSO BY THE AUTHOR
  
  
  
  FICTION
  
    * In Pursuit of The Pale Prince: An Arestus Adventure
    * The Alexandria Rising Chronicles
    * Alexandria Rising: Book 1
    * Alexandria Reborn: Book 2
    