Author’s Note
Prologue
Book I: The Years of the Barracudas
1. The Metamorphosis of King Henri Christophe
2. Group Portrait of a Woman
3. Tankor Satani Has Another Unexpected Visitor
4. A Fishbone-Choking Death
5. A Crepuscular Time for Tankor Satani’s Presidency
6. An Albino and Dancing to the Moon
7. Healing on the Beach
8. The Unbearable Loneliness of Being Chief Justice
9. The River Between
10. The Last Visit of General Augustus Kotay
11. The Fallen Angel
12. The Mermaid’s Comb
13. A Ballad for Her Dead Lovers
14. The Vultures of the Angels
15. Camwood on the Leaves
16. The Sorcerer’s Hieroglyph
17. Hawanatu Gomba’s Imaginary Lover
18. Madmen and Specialists
19. Occasion to Dance
20. First Canto of the Mermaid
21. An Empty House
22. The Not-So-Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
23. The Times They Were Living In
24. Between Two Women
25. Such a Long Journey
26. Arcadian Eunuchs and Willful French Nymphs
27. Finally, a Child
28. The Stallion of an Old Man’s Twilight
Book II: Passion and Immortality
29. The Gadflies
30. A Pasiphae, So Late in His Life
31. Flames on the Streets
32. When the Banana Plant Is about to Die It Produces New Suckers
33. Rumors of a Magic Plane
34. A Man of the People
35. Finally, the River
36. A Savant Goes to the Xanadu
37. A Rooster for the River Man
38. Jewel of a Long Summer
39. Tankor Satani Meets Gilchrist Obango
40. All the Pretenders
41. Sorcerers and Poets
42. Second Canto of the Mermaid
43. A Little Matter of Conscience
44. An Amazing Gift!
45. What Is Left of This Life after Those Sweet Days?
Book III: Paradise, Bad News, the Houris, and a Turquoise Ocean
46. This Island Now
47. Of Mice and Men
48. Three Million Dollars Lost, Just Like That
49. The Professor of Desire
50. Enigma of a Name
51. The Splendid Mystique of Nine Dead Men
52. Last Canto of the Mermaid
Book IV: La Dolce Vita
53. An Unloved Polyp
54. After the Remains of His Days
55. A Preemptive Move
56. Show Us Your Penny, General
57. A Woman of Esteem
58. The Same Potter’s Wheel
59. In Praise of Virility
60. The Children of Sisyphus
61. La Dolce Vita
62. The Serpent’s Tail
63. Of Heroes and Demons
64. Love and the French Lessons
Book V: War and Those Diamonds
65. A Different Kind of Coral
66. The Long March
67. Naked Woman on a Fabulous Horse
68. Bless You, Granddaughter
69. War and Poetry
70. The Coming of Lucifer
71. A Simple Wedding
72. The Last Song of Lieutenant Albert Samura
73. Diamonds Are Not So Beautiful
74. Going Home to the Angels
75. The Beasts of No Nation
76. The Return of the Native
77. The Last Song for Mabinty Koumba
78. The Sweet Reward of Integrity
Epilogue
Acknowledgments