Catch the Fever: On Ishmael Reed’s Mumbo Jumbo

I’m not really sure how to begin reviewing Mumbo Jumbo, mainly because I’m not entirely sure I’ve finished processing it. It is one of those books where you can understand what Reed is doing without necessarily understanding everything he is doing. There are so many historical references, characters, myths, political ideas and conspiracies packed into it that I often felt like I was reading one story while simultaneously being given five others.

Set in 1920s Harlem, the novel follows Papa LaBas, a Voodoo practitioner, as he investigates the mysterious spread of “Jes Grew”; a supposed virus causing people to dance, listen to jazz and embrace African-American culture. The people attempting to stop it see Jes Grew as something dangerous that needs to be contained. But the joke, and really the central idea of the novel, is that Jes Grew isn't a disease at all. It is creativity. It is music, movement, freedom and self-expression.