Some books can undergo reincarnation, like Tom Learmont’s Rogue Male: Sex and survival for the newly-single man.

This risque read was a combination of evolutionary psychology, social satire, humour and scabrous sexual anecdotes. It began life as a series of successful online columns, then morphed into a slim volume which was published to excellent reviews. Alas, it was pulped after eight months, crushed by the momentous merger of two publishing behemoths.

But the Rogue wasn’t finished yet, just lying doggo. According to Learmont, his naughty little book was resurrected this month, translated into “NewYorkese” by a native of Manhattan, and available on Kindle at US$ 4.49.

The original told the tale of Elmay, a boeremeisie femme fatale who charms the hapless hero during a “langarm” dance evening at the far end of the Ontdekkersweg. In the “NooYawk” translation, she is Maria Elena, a calentita encountered at a salsa joint in Queens.

Human nature and newly-single men being what they are, the same scabrous episode could play out in the Big Apple, just as easily as it unfolded in the “Big Guava” of Jozi. Is this the final version of Rogue Male? Perhaps not, says Learmont. After all, London, Glasgow and Brisbane are full of newly-single men who could use a good cheering-up in their own pithy idiom.