Absolutely Powerful!

"Absolutely Powerful! is a work of fiction; it is a story of an African leader who amasses power and wealth and the effect of this on ordinary citizens. Ochola tells his story through Professor Pangloss, an academician and a journalist who is detained, tortured and then flees to the US on release. In America, Pangloss enrolls for a course at the famous USC in Los Angeles and it is during that time that he realizes that he has to adjust his way of life radically to fit into the American society. Back in Kenya, the professor becomes one of the most popular broadcasting journalists in the country. With reliable sources working close to the president, Pangloss gets a reliable but rare insight into the operations of African Big Men. The novel is sprinkled with serious debate and dialogue among highly educated Kenyan middle class about their situation and how they can come out of it. To make the book both intellectually challenging and interesting, the story is sometimes told with a light touch of humor. Any reader will find the book educative and entertaining. The novel also tells the story a humorous but sometimes reckless young man, Evans Bosire, who is a close friend of Prof. Pangloss."