It's about more than geckos...
Phelsumas are day geckos, friendly small lizards that are harmless to
humans but devastating to insects. You need to have some in your home,
especially if you live in the tropics. This story is about day geckos,
but also about a lot of other things. There are some rare birds, like
the pink pigeon and the Mauritius kestrel and parakeet, and a pet
African black cheeked love bird named Emmet. "Endangered species" is a
theme.
Quite a few human actors also appear, some better known than others.
Among the former are General Idi Amin Dada of Uganda, Richard Nixon,
Queen Elizabeth II, Henry Kissinger, several United States Senators,
renowned criminal defense attorney Plato Cacheris, and other famous
people who make fleeting appearances. The lesser known characters
include an avian ethologist (mistaken for an ornithologist), a Mauritian
forester-bureaucrat, one ambassador admired by his staff, another
ambassador despised, and still another ambassador addicted to playing
practical jokes on his friends.
There are also some organizations involved, such as Black September
terrorists, Exxon and Texaco, the World Wildlife Fund, the U. S. Customs
Service, the San Antonio Zoo, a publication called Agapornis World, and
the Organization of African Unity. Locales include Uganda, Cambodia,
Mauritius, Diego Garcia (a place, not a person), Boston, San Antonio,
and Washington.
It certainly sounds complicated, but it all comes together at the end,
which would be unfair to signal in advance. If it sounds like a badly
constructed novel, it is actually a work of what the author calls
"factual fiction," that is, a mostly true story that has been
embellished by passing it through the memory function of the human mind.
It is not to be taken seriously. Fortunately, in this free country, the
USA, we have the First Amendment, as well as statutes of limitation.
{ INTRODUCTION }
{ PUBLICATIONS OF THE FIVE AND TEN PRESS 1995-2005 }
{ ORDER FORM }
{ROBERT KEELEY'S BIOGRAPHICAL DATA}
{D.C. GOVERNANCE: IT'S ALWAYS BEEN A MATTER OF RACE AND MONEY}
{ANNALS OF INVESTING
STEVE FORBES VS. WARREN BUFFETT }
{ THE FILE: A PRINCETON MEMOIR }
{ESSAYS FAST AND LOOSE: A CHRISTMAS MISCELLANY }
{LETTERS MOSTLY UNPUBLISHED}
{ INNOCENTS OF THE LATTER DAY: MODERN AMERICANS ABROAD }
{ ESSAYS COLD AND HOT: A NEW YEAR"S POTPOURRI}
{ MSS REVISTED }
{ THREE SEA STORIES }
{CREATURES OF THE EARTH AND THE MIND}
{MY COMMUTE}
{SIC TRANSIT}
{THE GREAT PHELSUMA CAPER - A DIPLOMATIC MEMOIR}
THE PORT OF MISSING MEN (A NOVEL)
{ POETRY MOSTLY OFF THE BEATEN TRACK }
{ PARTING THE CURTAIN }
{ ESSAYS NEAR AND FAR: AS A NEW CENTURY DAWNS }
{ RANDOM THOUGHTS, ANECDOTES, AND MEMORIES OF A BOYS' LATIN SCHOOL OF BALTIMORE THAT IS NO MORE }
{ FROM THE HEARTLAND }
{ ONE OF THE VERY BEST MEN }
{ A STORY GOES WITH IT }
{ LOW CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS IN HIGH PLACES: John Mitchell and Watergate. }
{ THE WORLD ACCORDING TO WHITBECK. }
{ AN AMERICAN SOLDIER IN WORLD WAR I. }
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