Black Moses - Rilegato

Mabanckou, Alain

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 162097293X ISBN 13: 9781620972939

Casa editrice: New Pr, 2017

Riassunto

"The story’s unflinching tone and sly humor belie the tragedy of Moses’s situation, as well as the cruelty of the people he meets."
—The New Yorker

"An orphan story with biting humor. . . as pointed as it is funny."
—Los Angeles Times

"Heartbreaking . . . Black Moses abounds with moments of black humor but the levity is balanced by Mabanckou's portrait of a dysfunctional society rent by corruption."
—New York Times Book Review

"[Black Moses] rings with a beautiful poetry."
—Wall Street Journal

"One of the most compelling books you'll read in any language this year."
—Rolling Stone

LONG-LISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER INTERNATIONAL PRIZE

A rollicking new novel described as "Oliver Twist in 1970s Africa" (Les Inrockuptibles) from "Africa's Samuel Beckett . . . one of the continent's greatest living writers" (The Guardian).

It's not easy being Tokumisa Nzambe po Mose yamoyindo abotami namboka ya Bakoko. There's that long name of his for a start, which means, "Let us thank God, the black Moses is born on the lands of the ancestors." Most people just call him Moses. Then there's the orphanage where he lives, run by a malicious political stooge, Dieudonné Ngoulmoumako, and where he's terrorized by two fellow orphans—the twins Songi-Songi and Tala-Tala.

But after Moses exacts revenge on the twins by lacing their food with hot pepper, the twins take Moses under their wing, escape the orphanage, and move to the bustling port town of Pointe-Noire, where they form a gang that survives on petty theft. What follows is a funny, moving, larger-than-life tale that chronicles Moses's ultimately tragic journey through the Pointe-Noire underworld and the politically repressive world of Congo-Brazzaville in the 1970s and 80s.

Mabanckou's vivid portrayal of Moses's mental collapse echoes the work of Hugo, Dickens, and Brian DePalma's Scarface, confirming Mabanckou's status as one of our great storytellers. Black Moses is a vital new extension of his cycle of Pointe-Noire novels that stand out as one of the grandest, funniest, fictional projects of our time.

Su questo libro

Recensione:

Praise for the French edition:
"A delicious and delicate novel."
Le Monde

"From the first sentence there is an ease and spirit, and you know instantly that this story is authentic. Alain Mabanckou has a gift."
Le Figaro Littéraire

"A wonderful urban tale."
Le Magazine Littéraire

"Tasty but light to begin with, then quickly built and powerful, ultimately shattering."
Marianne

"He wields a sweet and fleshy tongue."
La Vie

Praise for Alain Mabanckou's The Lights of Pointe-Noire:
"In lyrical and disarmingly serene prose, the author evokes shock, wonder, and sometimes dismay as he searches for his past A tender, poetic chronicle of an exile’s return.”
Kirkus

"This is a beautiful book, the past hauntingly reentered, the present truthfully faced, and the translation rises gorgeously to the challenge.”
Salman Rushdie

"Alain Mabanckou’s joyous, vivid narrative style brings to life a frank, tender memoir."
The Independent

"The author’s real achievement is to capture a universal experience, one ever more common in the age of mass migration: what it means to come home after a long absence Few books about Africa will find it easier to attract readers far away."
The Economist

L'autore:

Regarded as Francophone Africa's leading voice, novelist, poet, and essayist Alain Mabanckou was born in Congo and currently lives in Los Angeles, where he teaches literature at UCLA. He is the author of African Psycho, Broken Glass, Black Bazaar, Tomorrow I Will Be Twenty, and The Lights of Pointe-Noire (The New Press). In 2015 he was a finalist for the Man Booker International Prize and the Prix Goncourt des Lycéens. Helen Stevenson is a piano teacher, writer, and translator who lives in Somerset, England. Her translation of Mabanckou's The Lights of Pointe-Noire won the Grand Prix, 2015 French Voices Award.

Su questa edizione

• Editore: New Pr
• Data di pubblicazione: 2017
• ISBN 10: 162097293X
• ISBN 13: 9781620972939
• Rilegatura: Copertina rigida
• Numero di pagine: 199