Marabou Stork Nightmares His life in this state is a miserable affair, surrounded by uncaring doctors and his extremely dysfunctional family. In his fantasy life, he is an adventurer in the wilds of South Africa, where he and his loyal guide, Sandy Jamieson, hunt for the marabou stork. When not hallucinating, Strang tells his life story, beginning in a "scheme" (local authority housing) in Muirhouse, Scotland, with his violent, delusional parents, two half-brothers (one a womanizer, the other flamboyantly gay), and his promiscuous sister, all of whom he despises. The family relocates to apartheid-era South Africa when he is an adolescent, where he
Marabou (fashion) very popular trimming from the late eighteenth century onwards. It was used for trimming hats and making up muffs and feather boas. The Great Exhibition of 1851 prominently featured marabout alongside other feathers as second only in popularity to ostrich feathers, and it was noted that white marabout was sometimes very scarce, and also that some manufacturers were making highly commended items from turkey and goose-down. Since the 20th century, marabou (spelt without a T) has become associated with lingerie and sex appeal. The Metropolitan Museum states that 'no object better epitomizes the sex kitten glamour of the 1950s than