Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
The Polygamist’s Tale
by Doudou Boicel
Montreal, QC: 2010
$20:00
If one trusts Boicel’s The Polygamist’s Tale, he has been the lover of dozens – or scores – of women, resulting in his fathering of 19 children (that he knows of) to show for his ‘natural’ love life, wherein mutual desire leads to either a quick rendezvous or a shared household that doubles as a harem.
A native of French Guiana, Boicel has lived in Montreal since 1970. Before and after his arrival here, the now-African-Canadian Francophone survived the social coldness of Europe and Quebec by relying on the sympathy and interest of women who were willing to love him even if other women – practical rivals – also loved him.
A chef, artist, writer, and impresario, Boicel is so talented a storyteller that he can get away with saying almost anything. He scruples to rewrite Genesis, so God first creates “three women: one white, one yellow, and one red.” Then, after noticing that the women’s pleasures were “incomplete,” the “Old Man” created “a new being” – a male – whose “skin was black.” Now, all could get on with the pleasant task of multiplying.
Scoff at Boicel all you want. He swears that polygamy is a fine arrangement, even if his ‘wives’ get jealous to the point of violence. His wit is his triumph: “(Men,) for all our naïve swaggering, we’re actually just characters in (women’s) fantasies.” At a party, he is “like a chocolate floating in a bowl of assorted ice creams.” For anyone who doubts that monogamy is the summit of happiness, Boicel is the boudoir philosopher to read…
No Comments so far ↓
There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.