Book Review: Nearly All The Men In Lagos Are Mad

A collection of stories about women’s horrors, delights, heartbreaks, victimization, and pleasures in their intimate relationships with Lagos men.

My many hours spent consuming YouTube Nollywood movies while perched on my hairdresser’s chair was the perfect introduction to the scandalous, amusing, colorful, and oftentimes deeply moving intimate relationship dramas in Nearly All The Men in Lagos are Mad by Damilare Kuku.

Last week, I randomly woke up with an overwhelming urge for African literature. I have no idea where this urge came from but the first book that I thought of, that has been on my reading list for some time, was Nearly All The Men in Lagos are Mad. I’m glad I followed my instinct because this collection of short stories did not disappoint at all. In this collection, the author gives us the unique flavor of Nigerian women’s horrors, delights, heartbreaks, victimization, and pleasures in their intimate relationships with Lagos men.

Despite the stories contained in this collection being dramatic, if you know anything about Nigerian culture (and for that matter West Indian culture), you can imagine every single story as already having happened in real life, to some woman, somewhere. Nigerian culture is painted very vividly by the author, and while the narratives cover women’s pain, sorrow, and disappointment with great tenderness- peppered in between is a cheeky, lightheartedness that makes for a delightful and often amusing reading experience.

You can imagine every single story as already having happened in real life, to some woman, somewhere.

Only in reading this book did I realize most of the short story collections I’ve read recently were by white, American authors. I’d become accustomed to short stories that end on vague and sometimes confusing notes. Western authors (even those not necessarily writing in a strictly literary vein), tend to reach for abstract themes and ideas. Not that those kinds of stories are not a pleasure to read as well, but I’d become accustomed to finishing short stories and being left with the sensation of “Hm okay”.

So it was definitely a pallet cleanser to read these fun, sexy, and expertly-paced stories with clear beginnings, turning points, and resolutions. Whether it’s a story about an unfaithful pastor, the cutting off of a husband’s member, affairs with a personal driver, the seduction of Nigerian entertainers, or having to let go of your dream guy because of his controlling and tribalist mother- one thing that can’t be said about this collection is that it’s boring!

Rating: ★★★★