The novel is not a post-colonial commentary on the state of the continent -- or at least that is not its primary focus.

This structural device is a central element of the novel and is reflected in the title, "Alphabetical Africa," which hints at the book's linguistic playfulness. Not to mention the many "mistakes" he made in the writing, when he included words that began with, say, the letter "w" in chapter "D". This makes it bit more difficult to take the endeavour entirely seriously (maybe it should be An Almost Alphabetical Africa ?I mention this one because Abish pulls it off in a way that surprised me, but the same tension occurs again and again. After the 26th chapter, which uses all 26 letters like a normal book, each subsequent chapter loses one letter (the 27th chapter uses every letter except Z, the 28th chapter uses every letter except Z and Y, etc. This can be seen as a metaphor for the complexities and challenges of interactions between different cultures or individuals. Abishs Afrika, gebeutelt von kriegerischen Auseinandersetzungen, Überbleibseln europäischer Kolonialherrschaft und den Versuchen des Transvestiten Queen Quat, den Kontinent orange zu streichen, durch den wir die zwielichtigen Protagonisten Alex und Allen sowie den Autor A. Narrative covers many aspects - murder, loot, chase, battles, ant extermination, colonization, foreign investors, changing African landscape and culture, amorous escapades - and much more.

Such shrinkage starts with Zanzibar and Zaire at the 27th chapter; indeed, Alva cuts those places off from her map of Africa. This unique narrative constraint continues throughout the book, with subsequent sentences shifting to words that start with "B," then "C," and so on. I heard about this book a few years ago and was intrigued by the constraints Abish put on himself while writing: using only words that start with A in the first chapter, then A and B in the second, then A, B, and C in the third, until he get to Z and then to remove letters one chapter at a time, leaving the last chapter with only words that begin with A. This eye-catching compendium of African fauna should delight young readers and instill an awareness of Earth's diversity of habitat and species…gorgeous, brightly colored artwork…brings these creatures to life. Though (ooops) see how I just violated my impromptu, Walter Abish-inspired, self-imposed, seemingly unending "a" alliteration?The first chapter ("A") contains only words beginning with the letter A, the second ("B") only words beginning with the letters A or B, all the way up to the 26th and 27th chapters (both "Z"), which can include words beginning with all letters of the alphabet. They were closed, and yet the owner, Dwain Kaiser, answered the phone anyway and urged me to drop by on Tuesday.

Discussion of how to harmonize these with other systems led to several largely abortive proposals such as the African Reference Alphabet and the World Orthography. Also, once you pass the "I"-chapter, the sentences sound normal, especially because you can use words like "is" and "it.When we examine the content of the sentence, it describes a group of characters - Alex, Allen, Alva, Antibes - who are engaged in some kind of journey or activity in Africa. As an admitted maximalist myself, Walter Abish’s Alphabetical Africa (1974) has come as an extremely rewarding reading experience that deals brilliantly with both experimentation and constraint (theoretical positions of omission/addition) equally in a way that uses a uniquely constructed set of limitations or patterns to achieve potentially new outcomes in artistic and literary possibility. In the Future Perfect is a collection of short stories where words are juxtaposed in unusual patterns.