Book excerpt: Social and racial inequalities abound in this 1960s Jamaican novel about a middle class lawyer who works closely with the working class and radical nationalist movement. In the midst of a riot, Mark Lattimer is targeted-and mortally wounded-by a poor islander because of his white-collar appearance. Cut off from medical attention in the middle of the insurgence, he is left to contemplate his life, including his childhood as a member of the privileged white elite, his time spent in London and as part of the RAF, his marriage and affairs, and the moment when he committed himself to the causes of the poor. As the end nears, Mark ruminates on the meaning of life and death, the politics of politics, and the significance of action in an absurd world.