African Psycho by Alain Mabanckou
Finalist for the Man Booker International Prize 2015"The novel with which [Mabanckou] cemented his reputation as one of French-language fiction's leading lights . . . Black as pitch and bitter as wormwood, a razor-sharp satire in which the trials of a would-be serial killer are played for laughs." --Times Literary Supplement
Its title recalls Bret Easton Ellis's infamous book, American Psycho. But while Ellis's narrator was a blank slate, the protagonist of African Psycho is a quivering mass of lies, neuroses, and relentless internal chatter.
Gregoire Nakobomayo, a petty criminal, has decided to kill his girlfriend Germaine. He's been planning the crime for some time. But the act of murder requires a bit of psychological and logistical preparation. Luckily, he has a mentor to call on, the far more accomplished serial killer Angoualima. The fact that Angoualima is dead doesn't prevent Gregoire from holding lengthy conversations with him. Little by little, Gregoire interweaves Angoualima's life and criminal exploits with his own.
Continuing with the plan despite a string of botched attempts and abject failures, Gregoire's final shot at offing Germaine leads to his abrupt unraveling. Lauded in France for its fresh and witty style, African Psycho's inventive use of language surprises and delights, relieving the reader through an injection of humor into a plainly disturbing subject.
Alain Mabanckou was born in 1966 in Congo. An award-winning novelist, poet, and essayist, Mabanckou currently lives in Los Angeles, where he teaches literature at UCLA. Among his acclaimed novels are African Psycho; Broken Glass; Black Bazaar; and Tomorrow I Will Be Twenty, a fictionalized retelling of Mabanckou's childhood in Congo. In 2015, Mabanckou was a finalist for the Man Booker International Prize. Helen Stevenson is the author of three novels and has worked as a translator for Faber & Faber and Serpent's Tail. Since taking up full-time writing, she regularly reviews for The Independent. She now lives in London.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781933368504 |
| ISBN 10 | 1933368500 |
| Title | African Psycho |
| Author | Alain Mabanckou |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Counterpoint |
| Year published | 2007-01-23 |
| Number of pages | 156 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |