More Specifically fear Lagos men. This book spends its entire 243 pages affirming all the cliche rhetorics about men like; men are scum, men will embarrass you, fear men, etc. It was one of the most talked about books in Nigeria last year and I found it genuinely entertaining.
My interest in the book was evoked by its very provocative title and it lived up to the thoughts I had in my head on reading the front page. It is a compilation of 12 short stories across 12 chapters where Lagos men did the unusual. Serving breakfast aka heartbreaks left and right leaving their innocent victims in shock and disbelief. Giving them invisible scars that never completely healed. The victims more often than not begin to carry a single narrative in mind about men in Lagos;- nearly all of them are mad.
From Lukumon in ‘cuck up’ who forces his wife to sleep with another man for money and then refuses to touch her afterward, which leads to her threatening to cut off his manhood.
To the ‘Gigolo from Isale Eko’, which talks about a man who marries women only for the financial benefits they grant him and his company. He had gotten married 3 times all ending under 5 years.
The 3rd chapter talks to us about ‘The anointed wife’ who had to protect her husband in his life of adultery even as a pastor after he was accused by a prostitute of their adventures together. In chapter 4, we see a lady who is exhausted with dealing with men in Lagos and decides to try out white men, and then she sees that the Lagos madness cuts across different races.
In chapter 5 we see an overprotective mother determined to keep the image of her late husband strongly imprinted in the mind of her son that it makes almost any girl incompatible with him.
My favorite part of the book was at the end funny enough. The author Damilare Kuku was giving thanks and acknowledgment and this was her very first thanks;
“My deepest gratitude to Eniola and Dunni- the best friends a girl could be so lucky to have. Thank you for holding me as I cried my eyes out after a madman tried to break me. Thank you for always cheering me on. I am grateful to you.”
She was clearly writing from experience,
She had felt the madness,
She channeled the emotional trauma to release her first book selling thousands of copies.
Impressive.
The stories or I’d rather call them experiences were narrated in detail. Giving vivid descriptions. It is full of wit, wisdom, craziness, and comedy; a summary of the crazy love situations in Nigeria using Lagos as a case study and it fits ‘cos Lagos is the wildest!
Many of the stories contain some light sex scenes I should add.
