Fong and the indians
1 ⭐
This story was offensive. The author used people that lived in the capital of East Africa, during his time living there, for characters in his story.
Here's a sample:
"... But Mehboob had dreadful thoughts as he drove up the narrow mud trucks lined with high, dense elephant grass: naked warriors watched him, Savages who, if so inclined, could crush him. These fierce men were at the summit of every hill, behind large boulders which they could roll onto his van, his goods, his head; it was said that these tribesmen slept in the warm mud puddles in the middle of the road, indolent prey for the passing 'Persian' who, when caught at the next village for the murder of the tribesmen, would pay the maximum penalty, a punishment verified by his half brother's friend's cousin, a cotton-ginner in Burundi at the height of the bahutu uprising against the watusi. The punishment consisted of cutting off the offender's feet and ordering him to stand on his stumps (raucous laughter as he falls), then cutting off his legs to the knees and making him stand again, and so forth.. it was too much for Mehboob to think about; only the thought of it made deep dread."
Fong of the title is a Chinaman, a former Carpenter who's reduced to selling groceries in a store that has practically no merchandise. He is used by a South indian, Fahkru, to enrich himself.
The author makes fun of everybody, East africans, South Asians and Americans. The author has his protagonist and his large family practically starve to death (sometimes they avoided starvation by catching and eating grasshoppers), before, in the end of the story, making his most fervent dream come true.

5 stars Girls at Play
Heather, a 36-year-old teacher who has been transferred to the school of the story's setting from Nairobi, starts out being described by the author as being attractive to men. But as The story goes on, Heather's description becomes more and more rundown, flabby, messed-up makeup, messed-up hair, growing-out Gray, etc.
She and Miss poole are at loggerheads. Miss poole is the headmistress. They begin sniping at each other, and before long they're practically at war. Heather is always drinking and smoking.
Miss poole never cleans her house. She has cats living in her house, and she lets her favorite cat sit on her lap at the dinner table, feeding her tit bits from the serving plates.
"...Animals obeyed and could be trained and would respond as humans never did, for she saw in these creatures a helpless innocence bordering on holiness which did not exist in humans. There were times when she herself felt this bewildered helplessness which small animals showed. Unlike most humans there was no malice in the cats; while there were the usual subtle responses -- many more than most people thought -- there was no evil. They had not fallen. Man had. Much more than the high-voiced and man-crazy female, magotty in the head and committing sins, these Meek creatures were God's own."

At their first meeting, Heather's dog attacks Miss poole's favorite cat, Sally.
"They faced each other: Miss poole with her hair in a bun, in brown Tweed darkened with a streak of cat-piss, flat-chested, yellow gray in complexion with light feline Tufts of facial hair, rocking her cat mechanically at her bosom as a mother does a small child; heather, her blue dress wrinkled at the back from the hot drive, her blonde-streaked hair half-fixed, thick calves, pudgy with drink, her lips a bright sticky red, a fleshy braceleted arm holding her dog's collar."

This was a great book. I went into it not expecting much, as I had just read Fong and the indians, which I hated.

2 ⭐ Jungle Lovers
The third and the last novel in the book "On the Edge of the Great Rift: Three Novels of Africa." This wasn't as good as "Girls at Play."
The story is mainly about Calvin, an insurance salesman from Hudson, Massachusetts, who is sent to Malawi East Africa, by his insurance company. In the beginning of the story he is earnest about selling policies.
The story is also about Marais, a half European, half American wannabe revolutionary. Neither one of these men are successful at what they do.
It takes place at the time of East Africa's independence from England. Fed up with white sovereignty, Africans are showing their hatred of the white.
This was disappointing. ( )