Solibo Magnificent

by CHAMOISEAU, PATRICK

• ISBN13: 9780679432364
• ISBN10: 0679432361
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1998-03-01
• Publisher: Pantheon

Summary

It's Carnival time in Fort-de-France, Martinique. Before an uninterrupted public, Solibo Magnificent, the great teller of tales, is felled, seemingly choked by his own words. Is it autostrangulation or murder? Two police officers lead the investigation, but what they discover is a transitory universe at the threshold of oblivion - the universe of the Masters of the Word who, like Solibo, possess the gift of language: perfect for rich and boundless discourse, but not very helpful for unraveling a crime.

Table of Contents

Translators' Note	xi
Before the Word (Document of the Calamity) Incident Report	3	(160)
1. My friends! Here the Master of the word swerves onto the sharp curve of destiny and plunges us into ill-luck	7	(33)
2. My friends! Here the Chief Sergeant brings back his wretched slappity-slap and gets all of us in a pickle	40	(34)
3. Oh friends! The Chief Inspector racks his brains and turns us into the suspects of a preliminary investigation	74	(37)
4. My friends, enough! Pilon sees that the preliminary investigation was but criminal	111	(52)
After the Word (Document of the Memory)	163	(12)
Sequence of Sucette's Solo	163	(1)
When Solibo Spoke	164	(11)
Bringing the Word	175	(10)
Afterword: Subline Tumble	175	(10)
Rose-Myriam Rejouis
Glosses on Names and Nicknames	185	(2)
Glossary	187	(4)
Translators' Acknowledgments	191