This novel reveals that lunacy is by no means restricted to the village madman. . . . “By far the funniest book I’ve read in a decade” (The Washington Post Book World).
In Jamaica, Aloysius is tolerated by his neighbors, but forced to eke out a living by doing odd jobs and use the hospitable woodlands for shelter. Starved of human companionship, he has running conversations with trees and plants.
Then love, or a peculiar version of it, comes to Aloysius in the form of a solidly built German lady, Inga Schmidt, who has come to the Caribbean to photograph the flora and fauna. They will embark on a romance and a series of misadventures that may turn the island, and their lives, upside down . . .
“Every country (if she’s lucky) gets the Mark Twain she deserves, and Winkler is ours, bristling with savage Jamaican wit.” —Marlon James
Anthony C. Winkler was born in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1942. His first novel, The Painted Canoe, was published in 1984 to critical acclaim. This was followed by The Lunatic (1987), The Great Yacht Race (1992), Going Home to Teach (1995) and The Duppy (1997). His short story collection, The Annihilation of Fish and Other Stories, was published in 2004.