''The Coup'' is a 1978 novel by American author

John Updike John Hoyer Updike (March 18, 1932 – January 27, 2009) was an American novelist, poet, short-story writer, art critic, and literary critic. One of only four writers to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once (the others being Booth ...

. It is a black comedy narrated by the former leader of a fictional Islamic country in

Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

with a vehement hatred of all things American.

Summary

Hakim Felix Ellellou, ex-dictator of Kush, a fictional Islamic state in Sub-Saharan Africa, narrates the history of his life and his rule over his former desert empire from his current exile in France. With his drought ridden country ever on the verge of a humanitarian crisis, Ellellou's troubles begin when the hated Americans begin sending food aid to his starving people. The crazed dictator has the crates of food burned to keep out the Americans but his second-in-command turns against him, secretly negotiating a deal with the United States for rights to the country's oil.

References

1978 American novels Novels by John Updike Alfred A. Knopf books Novels set in Africa {{1970s-novel-stub