Blue White Red

Half-truth heightens dramatic irony in Mabanckou's award-winning novel as he explores the enormous gap between cultural expectations and realities within the Parisian world of African dandies. Traveling between Paris and his small African village carrying fashion, gifts, and money to rebuild his parents' home, Moki lives as sought-after royalty during his dry-season return trips; holding court, sorting out local complaints, and entertaining people with tales of his adventurous life in France, all while speaking "French French", the tongue of Maupassant. After telling his neighbor%E2%80%94our narrator%E2%80%94Massala-Massala that he has the right face for Paris, Moki inadvertently convinces him to pursue the Parisian dream. But upon reaching France with Moki and being renamed Marcel Bonaventure, disillusionment sets in; he finds himself sleeping cramped on the eighth floor of an abandoned building and thwarting police in the marketplace. Mabanckou (Memoirs of a Porcupine) dazzles with technical dexterity and emotional depth; as our narrator tells us, "I ended up building a space deep in my heart that isn't enough for me." Vulnerability beckons in this masterful story about a world we always knew was too good to be true, yet reminds us that new skies appear and new seasons begin. (Mar.)