Graceland : A Novel

This novel is set in Maroko, a sprawling, swampy, crazy and colourful ghetto of Lagos, Nigeria, and unfolds against a backdrop of lush reggae and highlife music, American movies and a harsh urban existence.

Elvis Oke, a teenage Elvis impersonator spurred on by the triumphs of heroes in the American movies and books he devours, pursues his chosen vocation with ardent single-mindedness.

He suffers through hours of practice set to the tinny tunes emanating from the radio in the filthy shack he shares with his alcoholic father, his stepmother and his step-siblings.

He applies thick make-up that turns his skin white, to make his performance more convincing for American tourists and hopefully net him dollars.

But still he finds himself constantly broke. Beset by hopelessness and daunted by the squalor and violence of his daily life, he must finally abandon his dream.

With job prospects few and far between, Elvis is tempted to a life of crime by the easy money his friend Redemption tells him is to be had in Lagos's underworld.

But the King of the Beggars, Elvis's enigmatic yet faithful advisor, intercedes. And so, torn by the frustration of unrealisable dreams and accompanied by an ecle