A sneak preview of TEBOGO AND THE PANTOPHAGIST, to be published early in 2010
By Paul Lothane
In Omoseye Bolaji’s new adventure featuring Tebogo Mokoena, Tebogo and the pantophagist (2010) we can discern some “Bond-ian” features (from the legendary James Bond movies). Intermittently, there are faint echoes of what might be exchanges between “M” and Bond.
For example, going back to Tebogo and the Haka (2008) when the “flamboyant man” queries Tebogo:
“”OK let’s cut to the chase. What do you know about the Haka?”
He was dead serious. So I replied: “The Haka? I believe it’s a traditional Maori ‘war dance’, nowadays associated with the New Zealand Rugby team. Quite fascinating to watch really…other South Pacific teams have their own versions I believe …the likes of Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa”
(Page 4)
In Tebogo and the pantophagist the flamboyant man again starts by saying to Tebogo:
“I guess we should talk now. Tell me – what do you know about the likes of Alexander Graham Bell, Galileo Galilei, Janssen, Roger Bacon,, James Watt, Louis Pasteur…?”
“Hmm,” I said, “they were all great inventors weren’t they? Bell invented the telephone; Janssen the microscope, Roger Bacon gunpowder; Watt the steam engine or train…Galileo – the telescope?”
The flamboyant man nodded. “You tried; but you have to do better. Much better...”. A bit later on, he adds:
“You see, you must get close to the pantophagist “
I winced. “The what?”
“The pantophagist. It’s still the same man (Mr Shasha) but we like to call him pantophagist because he has a reputation for eating all types of food, without somehow getting tired, sick, or fat. It’s like chewing the cud or something, perhaps….”
Through these brief exchanges the general reader gets to cotton on as to what is happening, with some brief elucidations which do not become tedious. Again, later in the latest book when Tebogo is with the gorgeous Debbie, who is explaining that her father named her after Debbie Allen:
“Debbie Allen?” I tried to remember who she was.
“Yes Debbie Allen, the superb American female dancer and choreographer. World famous for her role in Fame. The TV series and movie. Holds honorary doctorates from lofty tertiary institutions for excelling in such fields. My father loved her very much – and named me after her,”
“I’m not sure your mother liked that,” I grinned… The usual humour characterising the “Tebogo series” is evident. The story, plot (such as it is) is interesting enough, reaching a surprise peak in chapter 9. Maybe all that is needed is a Vodka Martini, shaken but not stirred!
