Solibo Magnificent

First US edition. 8vo. Pp. [xiv], 190, [2]. Quarter-bound black cloth over black paper boards, lettered in gilt to spine; deckled fore-edge. Jacket design and illustration by Royce M. Becker. Translated from the French and Creole by Rose-Myriam Réjouis and Val Vinokurov. Afterword by Rose-Myriam Réjouis. With glossary and glosses on names and nicknames. Originally published as Solibo Magnifique by Éditions Gallimard, Paris, in 1988.

A New York Times Notable book of the year. The sudden mid-sentence felling of legendary bard Solibo Magnificent draws in the overly eager, local chief sergeant, who holds his entranced listeners under suspicion for murder. Police procedural mystery set during Carnival time in Fort-de-France, Martinique. Winner of the 1992 Prix Goncourt for Texaco. "A world class author... whose voice and imagination are like nothing you've read before." –The Washington Post Book World