A Separate Development

New York. 1981. Scribner's. 1st American Edition. Very Good in Dustjacket. 0684173085. 1st Novel by Prize Winning Poet. Banned In South Africa At Publication Time. 199 pages. hardcover. Cover: David Gatti. keywords: Africa South Africa Literature World Literature. DESCRIPTION - This first novel by a prize-winning poet was banned in South Africa soon after publication. It is a part comic, part tragic tale of misadventure and injustice: a scathing, lyrical, bitterly funny, truly haunting indictment of senseless prejudice in the tradition of Alan Paton and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Harry Moto, a young boy about to come of age, lives in increasing fear of being different in a world where equality means privilege- Harry has no ID card, and no ID card means identity, no protection under the law. It is the law, not the faint tan of his skin, that sets Harry apart. Caught in a compromising position with a rich white girl at a school dance, Harry feels it is necessary to flee in order to avoid charges under the Immorality Act. Displaced and misclassified, he tries to escape by disappearing into a squalid lifestyle forced upon the underprivileged. But Harry isn't a busboy safe anywhere. Working as in a road house, he runs into the girl he took to the dance. Living in constant dread of rape and robbery, she confuses her friend with her fear. Trapped by misunderstanding and lunatic justice, Harry lands in jail, where he is made to write his confession, for if he is to have any hope of freedom, he must collaborate with the system that has denied him the dignity and security of a normal development. Like Holden Caulfield, Harry Moto will join the pantheon of memorable characters who, in the face of confusion and restraint, not only survive but triumph. inventory #4742.…