Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth: A novel

From the first Black winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature and one of our fiercest political activists, a fictional meditation on power and greed—at once a literary hoot, a whodunit, and a scathing indictment of political and social corruption.

In an imaginary Nigeria, a cunning entrepreneur is selling body parts stolen from Dr. Menka’s hospital for use in ritualistic practices. Dr. Menka shares the grisly news with his oldest college friend, bon viveur, star engineer, and Yoruba royal, Duyole Pitan-Payne. The life of every party, Duyole is about to assume a prestigious post at the United Nations in New York, but it now seems that someone is determined that he not make it there. And neither Dr. Menka nor Duyole knows why, or how close the enemy is, or how powerful.

Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth is a stirring call to arms against the abuse of power from one of our fiercest political activists, who also happens to be a global literary giant.

About the Author

WOLE SOYINKA, the first African to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, is a distinguished playwright, novelist, poet, and essayist of global stature. Born in Nigeria, Soyinka studied at University College in Ibadan, Nigeria and University of Leeds, England. Soyinka’s prolific body of work includes several poetry collections, over 20 plays, five memoirs including Aké: The Years of Childhood (1981), and three novels—The Interpreters (1965), Season of Anomy (1973), and Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth (2021).

Author Hometown: Abeokuta, Nigeria