The Palm-Wine Drinkard is the phantasmagorical story of an alcoholic man and his search for his dead wine tapster. As he travels through the land of the dead, he encounters a host of supernatural and often terrifying beings - among them the 'complete gentleman' who returns his body parts to their owners, the insatiable 'hungry-creature', and his own pyromaniac son. Mixing Yoruba folktales with what TS Eliot described as a 'creepy crawly imagination', The Palm-Wine Drinkard is regarded as the seminal work of African literature.