av M. D. Charles Onyegbule Uzoaru
296,-
The haunted celebrity' is the story of an ambitious young man who left his quiet humble village in order to ful¿ll his hidden ambition in a rough, cold and hostile metropolis. While he was in the city, he ful¿lled his hidden ambition in a manner and to a level that was beyond his intellectual capacity. With in¿ated ego and a sense of invincibility, he went back home to the village where he literally placed himself above all and sundry. He displayed so much wealth and well-being that all the village youngsters began to adore him and sing his praises. In order to replicate his brand of success, the village youngsters began to ¿ock to the city in search of the golden ¿eece. Except for a small minority of individuals that remained steadfast in their negative views of the celebrated young man, everybody else wanted to be like him. He had to be the happiest and most-highly-ful¿lled person in the entire world. As it turned out, his life was in tatters and a direct opposite of what people saw in him. Unknown to his ¿ock of admirers, he was a very troubled man who was haunted by some inescapable forces; both known and unknown. As time progressed, the village youngsters who had ¿ocked to the city, began to realize that there had been so much misconception and misinformation about the city and wished they had stayed home in the ¿ rst place. In his near-retirement age, the celebrated man came across a most-beautiful and highly-seductive widow who tantalized and pursued him in a very puzzling manner. Allured by the magical images of the seductive widow he, in turn, began to chase after her. The reciprocal chase turned into a ¿erce battle of will, of wit, of determination and strange love äair. In the process, he discovered something more valuable than wealth, popularity and stardom in a most unusual and unexpected manner.Apart from depicting the haunted life of the celebrity in question, the book is a synopsis of the people's ways of life; a culture that exhumes pride in its originality and wisdom. The book touches on several aspects of people's ways of life; their marriage traditions and ceremonies, their amazing use of parables in communication, their burial functions, their belief in the incarnation of the departed, their ¿ght over age seniority, their naming ceremonies, etc. Are there any checks and balances to ensure fruitful, long-lasting marriages? What processes do couples go through to get married? How do the people mourn their dead and why do they shed tears at the death of a beloved one? What are the favorite gossip topics for men and women? How positively or negatively are kids äected by wealth and poverty? How and why do parents pick particular names for their kids? Is a child äected either positively or negatively by his or her name? What are the pros and cons of polygamy? What are the purposes and implications of the Omugwo? Are there occasional or even deep-rooted clashes between past and present, old and new; rich and poor? The book is more than a story; it is an inspiring insight into human behavior.