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A Cannibal in Manhattan
Mgungu Yabba Mgungu is living happily on the South Sea island of New Burnt Norton with his three wives, one hundred pigs and assorted children, the last remaining members of the tribe of the Lesser Pimbas. Into this uncivilised land comes Maria Fishburn, strange and beautiful heiress, who decides to marry Mgungu and drag him back to New York City. From his first encounter with airline food and with rock star Kent Gable, who declares he was recently abducted by aliens, Mgungu is plunged into a world much more predatory than anything in the South Seas. Soon Mgungu is the toast of all Manhattan, meeting Parker Junius, unctuous curator of the Museum of Primitive Arts, talking philosophy with Sophie Tuckerman, deli owner, and meeting the illustrious Joey, of pizza parlour fame. It is swathed in a huge fur coat and with his new gold pen through his nose that Mgungu finally marries Maria. But then he falls in with a motley crew who come to threaten them both.
287 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
7 people are currently reading
380 people want to read
About the author
Tama Janowitz
29 books265 followersTama Janowitz is an American novelist and a short story writer. The 2005 September/October issue of Pages magazine listed her as one of the four "brat pack" authors, along with Bret Easton Ellis, Mark Lindquist and Jay McInerney.
Born in San Francisco, California to a psychiatrist father and literature professor mother who divorced when she was ten, Janowitz moved to the East Coast of the United States to attend Barnard College and the Columbia University School of the Arts and started writing about life in New York City, where she had settled down.
She socialized with Andy Warhol and became well-known in New York's literary and social circles. Her 1986 collection of short stories, Slaves of New York brought her wider fame. Slaves of New York was adapted into a 1989 film directed by James Ivory and starring Bernadette Peters. Janowitz wrote the screenplay and also appeared, playing Peters' friend.
Janowitz has published seven novels, one collection of stories and one work of non-fiction. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, Tim Hunt, and their adopted daughter.
Born in San Francisco, California to a psychiatrist father and literature professor mother who divorced when she was ten, Janowitz moved to the East Coast of the United States to attend Barnard College and the Columbia University School of the Arts and started writing about life in New York City, where she had settled down.
She socialized with Andy Warhol and became well-known in New York's literary and social circles. Her 1986 collection of short stories, Slaves of New York brought her wider fame. Slaves of New York was adapted into a 1989 film directed by James Ivory and starring Bernadette Peters. Janowitz wrote the screenplay and also appeared, playing Peters' friend.
Janowitz has published seven novels, one collection of stories and one work of non-fiction. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, Tim Hunt, and their adopted daughter.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
December 6, 2016
I LOVE TAMA! Let me put that in bold letters so that can't be missed!
I don't understand all the harsh criticism. But I also realize, if you aren't quirky or eccentric, you simply wouldn't get it. Only quirky and eccentric people need apply here! Non quirky and eccentric people, stick to her novel Slaves of New York and then move onto another author to get your fix, instead of giving something that will not be your cup of tea an unnecessary low review!
This was HILARIOUS, and adorable, original and fresh. I will never get enough of this author, I find her extremely adorable and brilliant and hilarious.
The dark satire here is STRONG, might I also warn, there is a nauseating scene (AT THE BBQ ugh!)
But there is a style here that I simply adore, and wish more authors had a style akin to Tama.
I hope she never stops writing!
I don't understand all the harsh criticism. But I also realize, if you aren't quirky or eccentric, you simply wouldn't get it. Only quirky and eccentric people need apply here! Non quirky and eccentric people, stick to her novel Slaves of New York and then move onto another author to get your fix, instead of giving something that will not be your cup of tea an unnecessary low review!
This was HILARIOUS, and adorable, original and fresh. I will never get enough of this author, I find her extremely adorable and brilliant and hilarious.
The dark satire here is STRONG, might I also warn, there is a nauseating scene (AT THE BBQ ugh!)
But there is a style here that I simply adore, and wish more authors had a style akin to Tama.
I hope she never stops writing!
December 6, 2014
I enjoyed the book immensely. It's a social satire about the collecting of exotic people by the self-absorbed. I've seen similar disastrous relationships among people I have known who decided to pluck someone out his element and treat him like an exotic specimen all the while expecting them to immediately function in sophisticated society. Boredom and tears usually ensue on the part of the collector. In addition, it is a spot on satire of the '80s New York art scene that I was once a part of. Well written, with a breezy tone.
I am re-reading it right now, and am finding a lot of interesting bits in the details.
I am re-reading it right now, and am finding a lot of interesting bits in the details.
August 18, 2007
The juxtaposition of an entirely civilized south seas Cannibal with the savagery of the downtown art scene never fails to produce laugh out loud results.
December 20, 2009
Really awful. After reading one novel and one book of short stories I gave up on her no matter how many reviews she got.
August 1, 2012
I had just finished reading this when I met Tama Janowitz and I was totally in love with her. Really funny book, have to get a copy with photos as they really add to the story.
February 15, 2019
The third novel I've read of Tama Janowitz. Probably my least favourite but still good if that makes sense? This is quite a strange, satirical novel about a man who is taken from his native village in New Burnt Norton to Manhattan. The humour here is so bleak as he's constantly referred to by himself and others as a 'savage' and 'uncivilised'. I think maybe Janowitz is trying to make a point about New Yorkers as people and their attitude to anybody outside their white American bubble. Some of the satire though I think got quite lost and I'm not 100% sure what the actual message of this novel was, and I don't think she really knew either.
Nevertheless I enjoyed this book very much, but probably would've liked it more if she executed her ideas on whiteness, consumerism and American bigotry a lot cleaner.
Nevertheless I enjoyed this book very much, but probably would've liked it more if she executed her ideas on whiteness, consumerism and American bigotry a lot cleaner.
May 23, 2008
I really did not think this was a good book. It started out as fast paced. It had an intresting concept, but at the end there was too many things that kept happening to cannibal when the book should have just ended.
May 11, 2013
...lost interest after 50 pages....the satire was lame!
July 8, 2013
Hilarious, entertaining, dark humour. I had to read and reread parts of the book as I couldn't believe what I was reading.
September 7, 2017
Irrilevante .... e quanto mai datato (letto nel 1991, quando fu un caso editoriale. Di Tama mi ricordo solo la capigliatura, in effetti aveva una scrittura molto da sciampista .... senza offesa per le sciampiste, in epoca di politically correct)
August 17, 2017
mah...ennesima storia di un "buon selvaggio" (che poi proprio selvaggio non è) che portato in mezzo alla "civiltà" (che ancora una volta è new york) mette a nudo le nostre ipocrisie e le nostre nevrosi. giuro che a tratti mi ha ricordato il peggior benni, e non è una cosa bella da scrivere su un romanzo. "schiavi di new york" era datato ma efficace a rendere quel periodo, questo è datato e basta.
March 19, 2014
This is one of my favorites to read and re-read. It's social commentary that's sometimes laugh-out-loud funny.
July 6, 2016
Dull dull dull. A book which consists of sub Brett Easton Ellis socialite dialogue. Avoid.
July 16, 2012
I LOVE this book. It is quirky, hilarious and twisted. Tama Janowitz is a master storyteller.
September 11, 2012
Fantastic and funny...good read.
February 23, 2016
The worst book I ever attempted to read. I'm not one to give up on a book but this was horrible from the first. The worst part is that I bought the book... in hardcover.
March 16, 2025
Mgungu Yabba Mgungu is an ex-cannibal living with his family on New Burnt Norton, a remote island somewhere in, presumably, the South Pacific. He is discovered by Maria Fishburn, a young and clueless heiress living in Manhattan. Maria convinces Mgungu to come back with her to New York, where he’s supposed to participate in a dance festival for a cultural museum. Mgungu’s adventures, both humorous and sad, are chronicled by Mgungu himself as he explains his predicaments and wonders at the idiocies and idiosyncrasies of New York society.
This book was given to me by a cousin and has hidden in my stacks for over thirty years now, before I finally gave it a read. I have to say the humor has not aged well. Although the cover promises hilarity, the story takes a horrific turn about two-thirds of the way in and never really recovers from that point onward, becoming instead, a tragic tale that ends with an unsatisfying whimper.
I briefly wondered that if I had read this book when it was first published in 1987, I would have found it funnier and the humor consistent throughout because of different societal norms. I don’t think so. I think I would have come away disappointed then just as I am now. To be sure, there are some strong points to this novel. Janowitz’s descriptions and ways with words are amazing and crisp. She had a unique talent for metaphor and adjective use that makes scenes come alive and empathetic feelings radiate with true color. There were plenty of laugh-out-loud moments in the first part of the novel as the world, both on New Burnt Norton and Manhattan, unfolds through Mgungu’s eyes and thoughts. But the humor doesn’t sustain and to claim this is an outrageously funny book is to blithely wash over the callous taking advantage of a person who is completely out of sorts with his surroundings. I suppose one could say this story is more of a satirical look on the shallow-souled absurdities of the art world in the New York of the late ‘80s. But that’s not how I saw it. It becomes the use and abuse of using up of a human being and the humor fades away rather quickly once life takes a dark turn for Mgungu.
All this is to say that I don’t recommend this book. I’m glad I read it, but it’s one destined for the second-hand bookstore rather than a book I’ll keep on my shelf. If you’re a book hunter like me and come across this title while enjoying time in your favorite used book store, you might pick it up and read it. And if it tickles your funny bone throughout, drop me a line and tell me I’m wrong.
This book was given to me by a cousin and has hidden in my stacks for over thirty years now, before I finally gave it a read. I have to say the humor has not aged well. Although the cover promises hilarity, the story takes a horrific turn about two-thirds of the way in and never really recovers from that point onward, becoming instead, a tragic tale that ends with an unsatisfying whimper.
I briefly wondered that if I had read this book when it was first published in 1987, I would have found it funnier and the humor consistent throughout because of different societal norms. I don’t think so. I think I would have come away disappointed then just as I am now. To be sure, there are some strong points to this novel. Janowitz’s descriptions and ways with words are amazing and crisp. She had a unique talent for metaphor and adjective use that makes scenes come alive and empathetic feelings radiate with true color. There were plenty of laugh-out-loud moments in the first part of the novel as the world, both on New Burnt Norton and Manhattan, unfolds through Mgungu’s eyes and thoughts. But the humor doesn’t sustain and to claim this is an outrageously funny book is to blithely wash over the callous taking advantage of a person who is completely out of sorts with his surroundings. I suppose one could say this story is more of a satirical look on the shallow-souled absurdities of the art world in the New York of the late ‘80s. But that’s not how I saw it. It becomes the use and abuse of using up of a human being and the humor fades away rather quickly once life takes a dark turn for Mgungu.
All this is to say that I don’t recommend this book. I’m glad I read it, but it’s one destined for the second-hand bookstore rather than a book I’ll keep on my shelf. If you’re a book hunter like me and come across this title while enjoying time in your favorite used book store, you might pick it up and read it. And if it tickles your funny bone throughout, drop me a line and tell me I’m wrong.
July 20, 2021
I'm not honestly sure if I enjoyed this or even fully understood it but at the same time I found it oddly intriguing. I picked it up blindly and wasn't entirely sure if it was fact or fiction before I began to read it but for 50p it looked odd enough to be given a chance. This was my first exposure to Janowitz so you'll have to forgive me for not realising that it was a novel straight off the bat.
It has some funny moments and is pretty scathing of the ultra cool lifestyle New Yorkers aspired to be a part of in the eighties and nineties, a lifestyle it has to be said that Tama Janowitz herself was very much a part of and therefore you would imagine was pretty on the button with her portrayal of the art scene and its hangers on. In that sense it makes a nice little window into a New York that arguably doesn't really exist 30+ years later, but also left me wondering whether a more serious novel based around that scene would have been a more interesting read?
This isn't a very insightful review I'm afraid, but that's due to me not entirely getting the point of the story. I'm not sure if the aim was to say that you should be happy with your lot in life, regardless or whether you should try to aspire to more even if you look set to fail. Or it could just be that Janowitz had seen Crocodile Dundee and wanted to take the concept to the point of absurdity... who knows? Maybe like Mgungu Yabba Mgungu I am not just not civilised enough to understand. Or maybe it was just a slightly jumbled book.
It has some funny moments and is pretty scathing of the ultra cool lifestyle New Yorkers aspired to be a part of in the eighties and nineties, a lifestyle it has to be said that Tama Janowitz herself was very much a part of and therefore you would imagine was pretty on the button with her portrayal of the art scene and its hangers on. In that sense it makes a nice little window into a New York that arguably doesn't really exist 30+ years later, but also left me wondering whether a more serious novel based around that scene would have been a more interesting read?
This isn't a very insightful review I'm afraid, but that's due to me not entirely getting the point of the story. I'm not sure if the aim was to say that you should be happy with your lot in life, regardless or whether you should try to aspire to more even if you look set to fail. Or it could just be that Janowitz had seen Crocodile Dundee and wanted to take the concept to the point of absurdity... who knows? Maybe like Mgungu Yabba Mgungu I am not just not civilised enough to understand. Or maybe it was just a slightly jumbled book.
January 11, 2025
Es un libro que muestra el contraste en la sociedad de Nueva York, donde las personas con poder y dinero tienen control sobre las personas sin muchas oportunidades.
La historia se enfoca en Mgungu, un señor originario de una isla alejada de la civilización, con clima inclemente, antiguas costumbres como el canibalismo, machismo, agricultura de tubérculos y analfabetismo; que al conocer a Maria una mujer adinerada que se interesó por el y después de un tiempo lo llevó a Manhattan para casarse con él, pero que en realidad es un nuevo capricho y una obsesión disfrazada de amor donde le ofrece una nueva vida a Mgungu.
La historia se enfoca en Mgungu, un señor originario de una isla alejada de la civilización, con clima inclemente, antiguas costumbres como el canibalismo, machismo, agricultura de tubérculos y analfabetismo; que al conocer a Maria una mujer adinerada que se interesó por el y después de un tiempo lo llevó a Manhattan para casarse con él, pero que en realidad es un nuevo capricho y una obsesión disfrazada de amor donde le ofrece una nueva vida a Mgungu.
June 7, 2022
This book cheered me up. Mgungu, a likable cannibal from the jungle island of New Burnt Norton, is drawn away from home by a young New York heiress, Maria Fishburn. (I pictured Mia Farrow). Once in New York City, Mgungu is pretty much left to his own devices to survive in the new culture. He makes friends and frienemies. It is a very funny book, though the ending is a little sad, and some of the events described can make you squeamish. It was not the typical novel. It has fun illustrations by Tony Wright, and the centerfold photos present the book like a documentary.
aborted
September 25, 2022If you’re in the market for defective satire, A Cannibal in Manhattan will be rewarding. If you’re in the market for defective satire that is also definitely racist, it will be even more rewarding.
The protagonist is an African cannibal named Mgungu Yabba Mgungu. It’s the type of name even JK Rowling wouldn’t assign to a POC character.
Got through 50 pages… barely.
The protagonist is an African cannibal named Mgungu Yabba Mgungu. It’s the type of name even JK Rowling wouldn’t assign to a POC character.
Got through 50 pages… barely.
July 28, 2025
The most bizarre book I’ve ever read but I loved it so much. Tama’s writing style is both parts hilarious and cutting.
A reminder to myself that great literature already exists in my bookshelves and I don’t need to go searching for it in the thought daughter hashtag on tiktok. Ending was eh but a lot of endings are.
A reminder to myself that great literature already exists in my bookshelves and I don’t need to go searching for it in the thought daughter hashtag on tiktok. Ending was eh but a lot of endings are.
September 2, 2023
With the name and history of the author I would have expected more and while some parts were intriguing, a portion of it I had a hard time following along. Could re-read or look for an adaptation somewhere.
January 11, 2021
A short sketch stretched out to book length.
July 31, 2021
Qué historia más raro
May 28, 2019
I loved this novel when I read it as a college kid. From the start where the main character responds to a white character asking in disbelief if he speaks a little English with, "Hither and yon," Mgungu Yabba Mgungu spends the whole story showing us how he, a supposed savage, is considerably more civilized than the pile of horrible Europeans and Americans he meets and associates with during his trip to New York. If you like satirical and absurdist humor, this is a good book to read.
November 3, 2007
Pretty funny book about a purple-skinned island dude who was framed for a murder but really did eat some of the victim unintentionally. Cannibalism is always funny.
November 18, 2008
not one of my favorites, seemed a little too scattered, not as cohesive as her prvious books
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews