Katakala

Hardcover, 1958 Abelard Schuman New York 212 pages. Very Good+, in a VG DJ. Just a touch of shelf/edge wear to Red cloth boards with gilt titles - corners sharp.Moderate shelf/edge wear and soiling to DJ, two closed tears and one chip to bottom of spine of DJ-now in mylar. No notes or writing-all pages are bright, clean and crisp.from Kirkus Reviews--"Katakala" is a portrait of an "Imaginary" African District under a British protectorate and consists of a series of views of several aspects, some humorous, some pitiful, of the district: the unreliable lake steamer, commandeered by an erratic Beandinavian, which carried all kinds of passengers -- African laborers, traders, civil servants, missionaries; the queer inhabitants of the lake shore -- strange, bizarre European importations -- diamond seekers, crocodile hunters and the usual tropic drunkards; the missionaries of several sects competing for and being used by the wily natives; and the matchless, altogether ridiculous, behavior of the British staff when confronted with a situation for which there was no precedent. This is a portrait drawn in hindsight, tinged by the author's nostalgic remembrance of things as they were, and with the advent of progress, as they are no longer. LOC SSS-16.…