Archive for September, 2012
by Luso on Sep 30th, 2012
A forgotten Agatha Christie essay prompted the Guardian to talk about crime fiction in their latest Books podcast. Christie apparently reveals “her disdain both for her own characters and those of her crime-writing contemporaries” in the never-before-published preface to ‘Detective Writers in England’, in which she discusses her fellow writers in the Detection Club. The podcast also includes a look at the work of Attica Locke, a rising star in American crime writing.
Listen to the podcast:
As a forgotten essay from Agatha Christie reveals her disdain both for her own characters and those of her crime-writing contemporaries, we look at the diverging history of detective fiction on opposite sides of the Atlantic, from the cosy crime of Miss Marple to the hardboiled fiction of Chandler and Hammett.
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by Ben - Editor on Sep 30th, 2012
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by Ben - Editor on Sep 30th, 2012
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by Ben - Editor on Sep 30th, 2012
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by Lindsay on Sep 28th, 2012
Untitled Books have published one of EC Osondu’s short stories, “Our First American”, on their website.
The story is part of Osondu’s collection, Voice of America, which also includes the short piece “Debriefing” previously published in our Fiction Friday section.
In “Our First American”, Osondu, winner of the 2009 Caine Prize for African Writing, tells the story of a Nigerian prostitute called Beauty who is dating an American man and giving her neighbours plenty to gossip about:
The first American we really got to know up close was a guy called Mark. He lived on our street with a prostitute named Beauty. She was what we called a club girl. She visited various Lagos nightclubs to drink and dance with men and would go home with any who offered her enough money. Sometimes the men would drop her off in the mornings. On other occasions a motorcycle taxi would drop her off at the street entrance. She would enter the street through the smaller pedestrian entrance, clutching her bag in one hand and her high-heeled shoes in the other. She would stop over at the neighbourhood corner shop to buy cigarettes. You could tell from the way she walked into the street whether she had had a successful night or not. She either walked in with a swagger, her buttocks swishing, or on bad days came in with drooping shoulders. On days that her night had not been good, she tore into Mark as soon as he opened the door of their one-room apartment.
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by Luso on Sep 28th, 2012
Verdict: carrot
On the cover of his collection of short stories, African Delights, is a beaming picture of Masoja Msiza in a suit and a bowler hat. Do not be deceived. Siphiwo Mahala explores the human condition of South Africa through stories from Sophiatown. He starts subtly enough and his subject inspissates as he approaches the end. The book is divided into four parts: The Suit of Stories, White Encounters, The Truth, and, finally, African Delights.
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by Carolyn on Sep 28th, 2012
Uitspraak: Jaco Fouché gee dit ‘n wortel, maar Tom Gouws neig na ‘n stokkie
Dalk verdien ’n hardekwasboek ’n hardekwasresensie, ek weet nie.
Maar eers ’n bekentenis: Tik is my eerste Piet Steyn en ek is aangenaam verras.
Ek het vaagweg in my agterkop die idee gehad dat ’n mens ’n boek vol dikvuis Afrikanermans gaan aantref waarin die mans- outeur by implikasie en via sy karakters die held van sy eie verslag gaan wees.
In Suid-Afrika is tik deesdae die drug of choice.
Nog onbekend in 2003, maar vandag is die gebruik daarvan verreweg groter as die misbruik van alkohol.
Tik is die onsigbare handelsmerk van die nuwe generasie.
Boekbesonderhede
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by Lindsay on Sep 28th, 2012
Verdict: carrots!
Do you know where you will be, and what you will be doing in five years’ time?
Do you know where you want to be? Are you thrilled every morning to go to work, excited about the day and what you will be achieving?
Or, like so many of us, is work something you have to do to survive – so you plod along day after day, wishing things could be better, but not knowing how to go about changing the scenario?
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by Sophy on Sep 28th, 2012
Alert! The winners of the Exclusive Books Boeke Prize Judges’ Choice Award and Readers’ Choice Award were announced this morning at a breakfast in Johannesburg. The Judges’ Choice Award was won by Gillian Flynn for Gone Girl while the Readers’ Choice Award was awarded to Rachel Joyce’s Man Booker Longlisted The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. Bradley Lutz was the first to bring us the news:
The Boeke Prize, South Africa’s tongue-in-cheek version of the prestigious Man Booker Prize, recognises the “got-to-have” fiction title of the year. Last year’s prizes went to Sarah Winman’s When God Was a Rabbit (Judges’ Choice) and Deon Meyer’s 13 Hours (Readers’ Choice).
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by Lindsay on Sep 28th, 2012
Verdict: carrot
Political or social debate in South Africa tends to be defensive or offensive. On race, people are largely defensive, on sexuality, offensive. This attitude or approach has tended to stifle progress, whether on a personal level or on a larger social level. Those of us who write social commentary often receive the backlash on the issues we raise. As a commentator and political analyst, Eusebius McKaiser is well accustomed with this terrain, and in his new book A Bantu in My Bathroom, tackles the issues with that familiarity.
McKaiser is no stranger to the masses – the chattering masses at least. As a go to analyst and radio talk show host, his name in bookshelves will not be unfamiliar. In his first book, A Bantu in My Bathroom, he confronts South Africa’s most thorniest and current subjects with the language and posture of a debater.
Book Details
- A Bantu in My Bathroom: Debating Race, Sexuality and Other Uncomfortable South African Topics by Eusebius McKaiser
EAN: 9781920434373
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Apr
