{"product_id":"white-spirit-9780803264410","title":"White Spirit","description":"After answering a classified ad placed by an import-export company looking for energetic young men willing to take on responsibilities for its African branches--no diploma required--Victor finds himself on \u003ci\u003eThe Will of God\u003c\/i\u003e, a dilapidated boat heading into the heart of darkness as even Conrad couldn't have imagined. With the piquant mixture of hilarity and painful disenchantment characterizing Paule Constant's vision of the \"colonial novel,\" \u003ci\u003eWhite Spirit\u003c\/i\u003e follows three innocents--Victor; Lola, a mulatto prostitute; and Alexis, who does not know he's a monkey--as they negotiate the perverse system of desires and hatreds on an African banana plantation. \u003cp\u003eSelling what no one wants or needs, Victor takes delivery of a barrel of mysterious powder promptly christened \"white spirit\" for its ability to bleach the black arms of the workers handling the shipment. To become whiter and worthier of love, Lola buys some--and then the rest vanishes. In this nightmarish Africa where colonized and colonizers have each other in a stranglehold, the white spirit unleashes an obsession that merges whiteness with a return to paradise--an obsession that can only end in catastrophe. Through it all, with her characteristic caustic language, fierce irony, and enormous tenderness for human frailty, Constant portrays the ridiculous without ridicule--and, miraculously, sparks a light of hope in the midst of the torment and suffering.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Bison Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/01\/2006\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780803264410\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 182\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.50lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.50h x 5.51w x 0.40d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e 02\/01\/2006 pg. 25\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 02\/27\/2006 pg. 35\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 03\/15\/2006 pg. 61\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Betsy Wing, Paule Constant","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":36643670392988,"sku":"9780803264410","price":16.96,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_76894c46-b291-4c43-963d-950fc35b36f6.jpg?v=1603857058","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/white-spirit-9780803264410","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}