A riveting first novel, set in Uganda during the absurd, terrible reign of Idi Amin. Isegawa, who now lives in the Netherlands, writes of village life, politics and society with searing intensity. It's a big, ambitious book that follows the author's own path -- and Uganda's history from the 1960s to the 1990s -- from rural Uganda to noisy, crowded Kampala and, eventually, Europe. Translated from Dutch, the book was first published in the Netherlands in 1998.  (UGD12, $15.00)