Little Boys Come from the Stars - Hardcover

Emmanuel Boundzeki Dongala

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0374184968 ISBN 13: 9780374184964

Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux, 2001

Synopsis

Matapari, a bright, mischievous Congolese boy, comes of age amid the turbulence, violence, and political upheaval of postcolonial Congo, in a family in which his uncle is a stooge for the country dictator and his father is a scholarly recluse obsessed with his work. 12,500 first printing.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

Sardonic, subtle, and sweetly scathing, Little Boys Come from the Stars is satire at its best. Set in an unnamed country in equatorial Africa, it tells the story of Michel, a precocious teen dubbed Matapari ("trouble") because of his extraordinary birth. Though his father is a reclusive scholar, his mother a pious though confused Catholic, and his uncle a shameless opportunist determined to gain power in the shifting politics of their post-colonial nation, Matapari remains an unsullied child who wears Reeboks, drinks Coke, reads Japanese comics, and watches "Rambo. But when his family becomes the nucleus of the revolution for democracy, Matapari proves to be the ideal narrator for this story of violent upheaval and bloody corruption-a voice whose ironic innocence makes bearable and even humorous the awful realities of the world it describes.

From the Back Cover:

“Affecting...in the tradition of post-colonial novels like Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart.”–The New York Times Book Review

“A whimsical, indeed hilarious satire out of Africa’s decidedly unfunny post-independence woes.”–Los Angeles Times

“Dongala reaches widely and grandly...[and] manages to balance both hope and anger.”–Detroit Free Press

“A funny, touching novel that offers a child’s perspective on power and politics.” –Chicago Tribune

About this edition

• Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0374184968
• ISBN 13: 9780374184964
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 246