Description

Finalist for the National Book Award for Translated Literature

Zaire. Late 90’s. Mobutu’s thirty-year reign is tottering. In Lubumbashi, the stubbornly homeless Sanza has fallen in with a trio of veteran street kids led by the devious Ngungi. A chance encounter with the mysterious Monsieur Guillaume seems to offer a way out . . . Meanwhile in Angola, Molakisi has joined thousands of fellow Zairians hoping to make their fortunes hunting diamonds, while Austrian Franz finds himself roped into writing the memoirs of the charismatic Tshiamuena, the “Madonna of the Cafunfo Mines.” Things are drawing to a head, but at the Mambo de la Fete, they still dance the Villain’s Dance from dusk till dawn.

Publisher Review

‘Mujila’s frenetic energy is captured in rapturous language by Roland Glasser, translating from the French. Recalling the gritty, exuberant novels of the South African Zakes Mda and the Congolese Alain Mabanckou, Mujila has brought to life a feverish tale of Africa’s underclass, whose demands – like the author’s – are hard to resist.’ New York Times ‘Mujila’s virtuosic narrative shifts, feverish magical realism, and dizzying chronological leaps make for an intoxicating reading experience. This complex tale bears exquisite fruit.’ Publishers Weekly ‘Poetic and inventive, Fiston Mwanza Mujila’s The Villain’s Dance sees – and mourns – the Angola that could have been.’ Eric Mayrhofer, Independent Book Review ‘Fiston Mwanza Mujila opens the doors of an effervescent Africa, one devastated by misery, but incredibly fresh and in which the dance is some sort of metamorphosis and Fiston’s language, jazzy and acid, becomes magical.’ Page des Libraires