But it's a measure of the dominance of oral culture over the printed word both here and in the rest of Africa that Ivory Coast's leading book shop chain says it's only sold four thousand copies of Houphouet Boigny's Imaginary Plots.

BBC: Political thriller wows African readers

Grandma Fan sat at the head of the table and the rest of us shuffled in around her: Uncle Jim with presents for us, Uncle Dick with his word games, Aunt Jane with her cosmopolitan worldview and martinis.

FORBES: The Ghosts Of Thanksgivings Past