A CURE FOR SERPENTS

by Alberto Denti di Pirajno ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 21, 1955

A tasty potpourri of exotic encounters comes out of the experiences of an Italian doctor in North Africa, where medical and administrative duties occupied him from 1924- and whose present reminiscences conclude with British occupation of Tripoli, where he was Governor. His patients are among the people of Libya, Eritrea, Ethiopia -- Arabs, Berbers, Moslems and Christian Copts and so on. Among the caravanserai are brothel keepers, Tuaregs, a dealer in shadows. His patients lead him to dine in a brothel, to extract a nonexistent snake from an Arab's stomach; the gratitude of patients range in expression from a Quoafi chief's deference in the matter of his cured daughter's marriage to the receipt of a monstrous jester from an aged but vigorous prince. The doctor's household boasted the devoted Jemerie and a beautiful lioness, Neghesti, who convinced them that she was a reincarnation of the doctor's mother. A boisterous, sophisticated racontouring delight.

Pub Date: Oct. 21, 1955

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Morrow-Sloane

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1955

Categories: NONFICTION