Description

A powerful coming-of-age novel exploring masculinity, tradition and identity in post-apartheid South Africa.

After a traditional Xhosa initiation ceremony goes devastatingly wrong, a young man is left to endure not only lasting physical trauma but the shame and isolation of being labelled ‘a failed man’. As he struggles to rebuild his life, he begins to question the customs, expectations and silence surrounding one of his culture’s most sacred rites of passage.

Honest and deeply moving, A Man Who Is Not A Man examines the human cost of failed traditions while offering a compassionate exploration of resilience, dignity and what it truly means to be a man.

Publisher Review

"Highly original." - Nadine Gordimer "His straightforward no-frills prose tells an effective story of a botched circumcision and its consequences." - Zakes Mda, Sunday Independent "A brave book, triumphant and a testament to the indefatigable will to live." - Mail & Guardian