The Duppy

By Anthony C. Winkler

Book Overview

"This book is laugh-out-loud, hold-your-side funny. You don't even realize the message in this poignant and philosophical story until you stop laughing . . . Winkler is a wonderful writer with a sharp pen and amazing pedagogy." --Today (NBC), "Cover to Cover"

Baps, a Jamaican shopkeeper, drops dead unexpectedly one Saturday morning and finds himself being transported to heaven via a crowded minibus. Everything about Paradise that he had been raised to expect and believe, he finds to be utterly and completely wrong. For one thing, Paradise suspiciously resembles Jamaica. Baps has much to learn: about the afterlife, about God, about the distortions of established religion, and ultimately about humanity . . . With his characteristic outrageousness, and with more than a hint of postmodern playfulness, Winkler defies taboos and subverts conventional thinking in this entertaining, thought-provoking, and ultimately uplifting novel.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 193335433X
• ISBN13: 9781933354330
• Release Date: March 2008
• Publisher: Akashic Books, Ltd.
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.47 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.2" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

Insanely funny and refreshing

My wife and I both laughed a lot reading The Duppy. I great satire on religions (mainly US Christianity). Fast, fun read.

Hilarious

This is the funniest book I can recall. A delightfully irreverent (and therefore challenging) account of the death and afterlife of a Jamaican shopkeeper, and his relationship with God in a very Jamaican heaven. It is full of insights into Jamaican life, and a humorous critique of American Puritanism too. There is a lot of sex in this heaven - just as there is in Jamaica - but what else is there to do in paradise? Would you want to go without it for eternity?

The Redemption of Baps

Anthony Winkler is a very wise man.At first I thought I was going to HATE this book because Winkler was using the term "ole neygar" (the verbal equivalent of nigger) throughout the book. Sure, as a white Jamaican and therefore an insider within the culture, Winkler has the RIGHT to use the term, but the term could never be use to describe him, so the words hurt.But then as I read the book, I realized the compassion and I came to the realization that ONLY Winkler could have written this book. ONLY Winkler because he knows the hurt that these words can cause. A black Jamaican would have been too afraid to use the term for it would sting, and an outsider would never understand the complexity of the relationships to be able to write such a healthful, satirical and funny novel. And it is an extremely funny novel. Winkler lays bare our deepest foibles and fears and reveals our greatest strength as a people who can embrace absurdity and joy at the deepest, most transcendent level. He also shows that we are capable of the most sublime religious thought. Old neygar could have hurt me. But I gave up my hurt and laughed.Laughed at the absurdity of Baps' condition, my island, my people, my hurt.Winkler forced me to realize that any book worth its salt, MUST hurt you in some way or it's not worth reading. Anything else is pure escapism, and if you want that, watch television.A book that hurts you forces you to give up your prejudices and biases and the hurts that turn you into a prisoner of your own past and prejudices.He also made me realize why I've never been happy in America-a land of happiness, but no joy. The American heaven is a mirthless one for it cannot, will not affirm life or joy.The Duppy is a book to be read by EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE and at ANY TIME.Congratulations, Mr. Winkler!

UNEXPECTED YET WONDERFUL

THE DUPPY was not what I expected. I expected a tale of haunting Jamaican folklore, a burning bull stalking the murky pathways, restless spirits terrorizing nights that were unprotected by electric lighting. Instead, I got an insider's look at life in small villages, an outsider's view of my American self and another story of stark faith from the author of the amazing THE PAINTED CANOE, although the former is stealthily inserted. I wouldn't ask for more! I love reading Winkler's gentle patois and I love the way his world bridges backwater villages with a university education. I especially love his earthy, off-beat humor and warmth. In THE DUPPY,the duppy, dead shopkeeper Taddeus Baps journeys through a drain pipe to Jamaican heaven where it is not uncommon to make love thirty or more times a night. He and his best friend (God!) and a stray existentialist board a plane for the American heaven, replete with sheep (which can also be used as weapons), harps and clouds, and we soon see a strange yet accurate vision of ourselves. Eventually, Taddeus and the Almighty continue on to the farthest reaches of God's universe. "Pearly starlight brushed my nakedness like cool spring water, and I gloried in the exultation of winging through the heavens on the shimmering light of God." Baps cannot completely free himself from his earthly life and when he decides the stellar journey is best accomplished while nude, his 'inner parson' admonishes him about "...exposing de purity of de starlight to nasty batty..." Taddeus and the Lord have adventures and Taddeus learns the main rule of heaven:"Thou Shalt feel good no matter what." He also learns God's secret-His inability to abide pain! In this Jamaican heaven, we find everything we find on earth, including beatings, shootings, bombings and grinding, lots of grinding, yet EACH is a pleasurable experience. Taddeus objects to this and is allowed the gift of creation. As Taddeus learns that God is not deep, that men are: that God's rule is simple, Love One another, I can not help but question my own religious views. This isn't comfortable, but in this cool Jamaican setting one does not HAVE to ponder, one can simply enjoy the read! I prefer to do both and again, stand in wonder at Mr. Winkler. Bravo!

Quick and Funny

The Duppy (Jamaican Patois for a type of ghost) gives a very humorous look at death, religion and what happens when someone has trouble making their expectations meet reality. Without spoiling of the plot, the book opens with the death of Taddeus Augustus Baps who quickly discovers that Heaven isn't at all what he expected ... especially since he, as a good Christian, expected to be able to look down on everyone who he viewed as living a less than Christian life (of course, with an all-forgiving God, everyone ends up in Heaven). As Baps slowly tries to adjust, he befriends God, and learns a lot about himself and human nature.