Nearly All the Men in Lagos Are Mad by Damilare Kuku

Nearly All the Men in Lagos Are Mad

Stories

Damilare Kuku

HarperCollins · Print & ebook · March 18, 2025

The anti-rom-com debut collection that took Nigeria by storm, featuring twelve “bewitching and revelatory” (The New York Times) and “ridiculously entertaining” (Booklist starred review) stories about the perils and pitfalls of dating men in Lagos, from a rising star of Nollywood “Sharply observational, funny and profound, this book is dynamic sociological satire that is as universal as it is specific.” —Bolu Babalola, author of Reese's Book Club pick and national bestseller Honey and Spice One night, you will calmly put a knife to your husband's private part and promise to cut it off.

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Who it’s for
Dating mishaps meet sharp, irreverent social satire in stories rooted in modern Lagos.
Themes
Dating and romantic difficulties, Women's agency, Deception in relationships
Genres
Short Stories (Single Author), Nigerian Fiction, Romance Collections

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About this book

The anti-rom-com debut collection that took Nigeria by storm, featuring twelve “bewitching and revelatory” (The New York Times) and “ridiculously entertaining” (Booklist starred review) stories about the perils and pitfalls of dating men in Lagos, from a rising star of Nollywood “Sharply observational, funny and profound, this book is dynamic sociological satire that is as universal as it is specific.” —Bolu Babalola, author of Reese's Book Club pick and national bestseller Honey and Spice One night, you will calmly put a knife to your husband's private part and promise to cut it off.

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It will scare him so much that the next day, he will call his family members for a meeting in the house. He will not call your family members, but you will not care. You won’t need them. In this remarkable short story collection, Damilare Kuku takes us deep into the heart of modern Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city, and the lives of a collection of audacious women who cope with romantic difficulties by brilliantly turning the tables on the men who wrong them. One hardworking married woman calmly threatens sharp-edged revenge on her lazy, hypocritical husband. Another skillfully protects her own business interests by shielding her pastor-husband from allegations of cheating that may or may not be true. A group of wealthy wives deceived by their husbands join forces in a WhatsApp support group called the Virtuous Wives Guild. And a discerning dater fed up with Nigerian men makes a vow to date only oyibos before discovering that white men can act just as badly. A bestseller in Damilare Kuku’s native Nigeria, Nearly All the Men in Lagos Are Mad is a raunchy, satisfying, and outrageous read steeped in the chaos and allure of sub-Saharan Africa’s largest city. It’s also a love letter to Nigerian women: the women in these stories may be confronted at every turn with liars, scammers, and cheaters in their quests for love, but they always figure out how to come out victorious.

Romance, Reversed

Dating mishaps meet sharp, irreverent social satire in stories rooted in modern Lagos.

Come here for

  • Wry takes on the perils of dating men in Lagos
  • Audacious women turning romantic trouble back on its source

Expect

  • A raunchy, playful anti-rom-com edge
  • Twelve stories with humor and social bite

Where it sits

Short Stories (Single Author)52%
Nigerian Fiction44%
Romance Collections34%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Funny Fiction
  • Romance Collections
  • Multicultural & Interracial Romance
  • International Romance
Show all 8 publisher categories
  • Short Stories (Single Author)
  • Women's Fiction
  • City Life Fiction
  • Own Voices Fiction
Authors
Damilare Kuku
Publisher
HarperCollins
Published
March 18, 2025
Format
Print & ebook
Theme
Dating and romantic difficulties · Women's agency · Deception in relationships
Reading lane
Funny Fiction