This book was the first book by the author published and is a series of unconnected short stories where the protagonists are all male and range in age from a 10 year old boy to middle age but share the fact that they are all ordinary with no real power or authority. They are all single and frustrated in love. What female participants present are generally seen merely as sex objects.

There is certainly a healthy dose of African mysticism within these tales which I don't pretend to comprehend and as such I find this a hard book to review. On one hand I enjoyed Okri's lyrical writing style and beautiful depictions yet on the other I feel that I failed to grasp the stories true meanings. I also found it easier to dip into the book for one story at a time rather than trying to merge several at a time. All in all I found this a somewhat frustrating book to read hence the low marks. ( )