The Catastrophist: A Novel (29 page)

This is a work of fiction. Those with expert knowledge of the Belgian Congo will see that certain episodes have been bent to the demands of the novel’s narrative. That said, the general outline of events and much of the detail is true. The literature on the Congo’s independence is too large to catalogue here, but I would like to acknowledge the debt I owe it. I have taken Stipe’s definition of neoteny from William Jordan’s
Divorce Among the Gulls
.

I would like to thank the Society of Authors for financial assistance in helping me undertake a research trip to Zaire in 1995.

A version of Part Two appeared in the
London Review of Books
in 1992.