J. ROGER KURTZ is Professor and Head of the Department of English and Philosophy at Drexel University, USA.

... a clearly written, accessible overview of an area of post-colonial writing which continues to suffer from extremely unbalanced critical attention

• Part 1 A brief history of the Kenyan novel: literary barrenness? the historical context; the 1960's - the first generation of novels; the 1970's - literary boom; the 1980's and 1990's - the post Kenyatta era. Part 2 Urban obsessions, urban fears: postcolonial urban geography - the evolution of Nairobi; heartbeats and afromances - popular novels and the city; following the "tramp of the damned" - the novels of Meja Mwangi; Nyapol's daughters - women and the city.