"Is it possible for European and North American men to depict Africa in a wise and non-exploitative manner?" That's the question Cooper (African studies, U. of Cape Town, South Africa) hopes to answer in her examination of writers whose opposition to racism, the nature of imperialism, and gender stereotypes make them "weary" inheritors of the legacy of Joseph Conrad. She borrows concepts and methodologies from Said's Orientalism, postmodernism, Lacanian theory, and other areas, rejecting a unified approach. Among the works she examines are Adam Thorpe's Pieces of Light, Alan Hollinghurst's The Swimming-Pool Library, Patrick Roscoe's The Lost Oasis, William Boyd's Brazzaville Beach, Will Self's Great Apes, Peter Hoeg' s The Woman and the Ape, and Lawrence Norfolk's The Pope's Rhinoceros. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR