African Madness

The four essays within this little book are quite different from each other, but all are interesting to me as I lived over there for many years. The information on Dian Fossey was quite refreshing, usually she is elevated to feminist Goddess status by most surveying her life, but Shoumatoff revealed many of her quirks and warts. Apparently virtually everybody couldn't stand her and she could hardly stand herself either. He also bravely pointed out that the gorillas are in peril because of the exploding human population. Fossey drew some attention to their plight but they will still wind up extinct unless that population problem is reversed. Ditto for his essay on Madagascar, he points out the reckless human growth as the factor destroying virtually all other life there. Something like only 4% or less remains today. His material on "Emperor" Bokassa and his human cold cuts appetite was not news to me, nor the info on his corruption. However, the author seems to see him as rather exceptional for Africa's leadership when in reality he is more the norm. It is a matter of media coverage really, as some of these characters ("monsters" the author calls them, he he) are liked or disliked by western journalists depending upon their politics. The essay on HIV's origins of course is rather dated, but still makes abundantly clear that it's spread through Africa is almost entirely due to promiscuity - a fact still denied today in many quarters and for political and racial reasons. Thus it continues to spread. Perhaps ultimately it will result in other species's survival (read: gorillas and Madagascar butterflies)? A pretty good book overall.

I came upon this book as I searched for an old (20 years now!) article that I remember reading in Vanity Fair magazine. It was about the movement of AIDS in Africa, and was stunning it its scope and length. Much more is certainly known now, but this was an important early article. The idea that a stylish magazine would open its pages to thousands of words on such a gritty and important topic was an eye opener. I was a subscriber to Vanity Fair in those years, and I remember Shoumatoff's Fosse article as well. Hindsight is, as they say, 20/20. I don't recall Shoumatoff's statement that the last reviewer cites, that "the Rwandans are a peaceful people who abhor violence," but clearly this is taken out of context in a number of ways. Shoumatoff, in the mid 1980s, is discussing people in a given area under set circumstances of an investigation. Reviewer "ensiform" is looking back over a horrific event that happened in 1994, and in fact, has nothing to do with Dian Fosse. ensiform's characterisation is at least as flawed as Shoumatoff's, possibly resulting in a draw, but I'll give Shoumatoff extra points for the substance he brings to his writing, and to the fact that he was actually there.