Parables and Poems is an anthology of short works, some of which are featured in other books by Pat Stevens, but are included here to reinforce various points of view. The piece's range from brief humorous essays to longer satirical articles, covering a wide spectrum of problems, but concentrating mainly on Southern Africa. The author has attempted to sequence the articles, so the content of each compliments the previous, in order to create an interlinking theme. Included are eight of the authors poems, and a list of favourite books both local and international, that have strongly influenced his writing. Then comes a light-hearted thrust at South African sport, which due to the interference of the liberal press is a heavy-hearted subject, Protea cricket is a tragic example of this. The liberals insisted on dropping the Springbok emblem, since then cricket and the pretty flower have never won a world cup, while the rugby Springboks have won two. Scrapping the death penalty and introducing criminal friendly laws, are more serious examples of liberal interference that bedevils South Africa, which turned the country into a crime hellhole. The liberals are savagely satirized throughout the book, especially in four amusing allegories, which mock the liberal penchant for social control. The book finishes with a section that poses the question, could a worthwhile meaning to life be a dedicated mission to annihilate neoliberalism, that certainly is the Holy Grail quest of author Pat Stevens. Forcefully expressed in his novel Zulu Vampire, where the South African press are taken to task, for their twenty year persecution of Jacob Zuma. Then in the comic fantasy The Old Farts vs The Fatberg, the UK press are savagely satirised, for elevating Boris Johnson to Prime Minister.
Pat Stevens was born in Johannesburg in the same month as Steve Biko, December 1946 was also the month Alan Paton completed his great novel Cry, the Beloved Country, so some characters in The Greatest Game series derive from both sources. Today the author lives in England, but the river between Africa and Pat Stevens runs deep, his books are all set in Africa. The Greatest Game anthology counterpoints the lives of four characters, against four decades in a changing South Africa, culminating in the historic 1994 democratic elections. The book also details the scepticism of the Johannesburg liberal press, that almost derailed the democratic transition, unfortunately these purveyors of doubt are still around. So a follow up novel titled Hero of the Struggle, describes the complicity of the press in the eight year persecution of Jacob Zuma, and the long struggle to effect the dropping of charges against an innocent man. The hero is writer Will Powers who obtains intercepted phone calls, these so called Spy Tapes prove political interference in the case, so all charges are dropped and Jacob Zuma becomes president. A semi-autobiographical book titled White Bird Under the Sun, describes a journey through fifties Africa that will warm your heart, as it recounts the joy and travails of a boyhood in the Rhodesian bush. The story continues in seventies Johannesburg through a sequel titled Dice of Life, a coming of age novel revolving around a group of apprentices, and dealing with the complexity of a racist society. The book examines apartheid South Africa, through the eyes of protagonist Harry Cheals, counterpointing his concerns against the easy attitude of friends. The novel Zulu Vampire recounts an outbreak of killing in rural Zululand, reputed to be the work of the vampiric Impundulu Lightning Bird, so police captain Jake Smit and journalist Marlin Madison track down the real killers. Continuing the theme of African fables is Cloud Eater, traditional stories told by an African seer named Thulani, while Parables and Poems is a collection of essays with political and religious themes. Greatest Book Ever Written includes Absalom's Tomb which uses a new style of Biblical writing, where the narrative is modern romantic style but for the dialogue, the King James English is retained imparting a lovely Shakespearian veneer. There is a wide array of books for you to choose from, whatever the taste of the reader, there is sure to be a fit among the books of Pat Stevens.
