Sunday book pick: The specific curse of dating men in ‘Nearly All the Men in Lagos Are Mad’

Nigeria’s capital city, Lagos, resembles a proper madhouse in Damilare Kuku’s 2021 debut book, the short story collection Nearly All the Men in Lagos Are Mad. It is hot and populous, and everyone’s hustling for more money or better sex. The men take shortcuts for both and women trip over themselves trying to make sense of this collective madness. Time and again they realise there is no substitute for extreme caution.

A heady romancescape

The 12 stories in the collection describe the experiences of cisgender women in various stages of heterosexual relationships. Women of all age groups and socio-economic classes suffer the madness of their men – but few take it lying down, finding ways to make the most out of their compromised circumstances. The title is catchy and relatable, and women in every city in the world will nod in approval. The men are a diverse set too, from cheating pastors to mama’s boys, from gay men to “alpha” Whites, men who endlessly pursue and those who are emotionally unavailable. Lagos’s heady romancescape often sweeps up unsuspecting women in its unique madness.

In “Cuck-Up”, an out-of-job husband encourages his wife to pursue an affair with a wealthy man. His handouts become a supplementary income for the couple...

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