When Alexandra Fuller was in Zambia visiting her parents, she asked her father about a local banana farmer who was known for being tough. Her father warned her to steer clear of him: "Curiosity scribbled the cat," he said. Nonetheless, Fuller began a friendship with the man—a white African and veteran of the Rhodesian War. With the same fiercely beautiful prose that won her such acclaim for Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight, Fuller recounts her friendship this contradictory character. Tattooed, battle-scarred and weathered by farm work, he is a lion of a man. Yet he is also a born-again Christian, given to weeping when he recollects his failed romantic life and welling up inside with memories of battle...