TRAVELS IN THE WHITE MAN'S GRAVE

A Scottish forester spends thirty years as a tree surveyor in a sweltering, corrupt, snake-infested locale and comes away with an abiding fondness for the people and a mother lode of memories. Samuel Gillies brings all this to us with a gentle burr and a pace that, while never dragging, allows us to absorb the details of a logging operation or the sensual description of mid-twentieth century Lagos, Nigeria. The cast of characters, speaking in lilting English, features Two-at-a-Time, Magic T. Sperm, a vengeful housekeeper, the drunken boatman Pisspot, and includes snakes, parrots, elephants, and monkeys. At this time most people, natives included, weren't concerned with the long-term effect of deforestation, but the author, at least in retrospect, is. Fun, poignant, educational, cautionary--this is storytelling at its best, perfectly preserved on audio. J.B.G. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 02/ JAN 03]