Fanon

By: John Edgar Wideman

Narrated by: Dion Graham

Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

Frantz Fanon (1925 - 1961) fought to free Algeria from French rule and rallied against the oppressive grip of colonialism.

In this fictionalized view of the revolutionary's life, an African-American writer travels the world to do research for a biography of Fanon. In a tale that is part love story, mystery, and biography, Fanon examines how a political radical's views apply in a post-9/11 world.

©2008 John Edgar Wideman (P)2008 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"Beautifully written ..." ( Publishers Weekly)

Strange book

I had difficulty following the narrative of this book. There are long passages that are moving and powerfully constructed but I wonder about the head that comes in the mail and how the various parts are intended to fit together.

Bad work from Wideman, disfigures Fanon

The title is inappropriate as there is very little of substance about Frantz Fanon. The main characters are Wideman, a doppleganger of Wideman named Thomas and members of Wideman's family, especially his grandmother. A more fitting title to the novel would have been "The nonsensical ramblings of my grandmother". For example, the fifth chapter of the novel is an extremely boring stream of consciousness from the mind of the narrator's grandmother.
The tragedy is that Wideman has tremendous technical skill as a writer. 5 percent of the novel is spectacular when he actually gives us a glimpse of Fanon describing his communion with the city of Paris, Fanon narrating his journey in the border crossing from Mali into Algeria, and Fanon playing soccer with his friends. These sections are beautiful and Dion Graham who performs the novel for us is excellent, but mind you, this accounts for only a few minutes of the total length of the read.
The worst part of the novel is the emphasis Wideman puts on the birth of Fanon where he describes over and over his fantasy of the incontinence of Fanon's mother during childbirth, for which there is no evidence or testimony, and also the incontinence of Fanon in his final days dying of leukemia in a hospital where he describes Fanon as wallowing in his own filth. These sections, as well as being disgusting, are also an incomprehensible bit of vandalism of a great man's memory. I have read David Macey's authoritative biography of Fanon, and Fanon's mother was a member of the middle class in Martinique with servants at home, not some brutish, bean eating freak as Wideman portrays. Fanon died in a first rate modern hospital in Washington D.C. with his wife and son by his side, not drowning in excrement as Wideman scribbles in his novel. Even if Wideman's despicable scenario was factual, why would you write about it? It makes no sense to give us a glimpse of Dr. King's bathroom or Thurgood Marshall's condition on his last day so why this sickening bit of voyeurism when it comes to Fanon? The actual historical Fanon was a dignified man who groomed himself perfectly and dressed well to overcome the contempt and abuse from racist detractors. He would have been outraged by the repulsive, scatological nature of these passages.
If you are an admirer of Fanon and the principles of humanity and freedom he stood for, I would suggest you not bother with this book. One can only guess as to the motivation of Wideman in sadistically mocking and defaming Fanon and his mother in it. I regret that I read this and believe you will also if you make the mistake of spending your valuable time on it.