'I don't hate being black. I'm just tired of saying it's beautiful.' Irreverent and uncompromising, Dambudzo Marechera rejected what he saw as the narrow stereotypes of African literature, and was a fearless critic of his country. He created an immediate impact with THE HOUSE OF HUNGER. In this semi-autobiographical work, the narrator expresses his desperate alienation - from his brutal family, from his student friends, from the squalor of township life and from Zimbabwe itself. This novella, and the other short stories here, portray a world of madness and chaos in an explosive style that flashes with both violence and humour.