In the wake of apartheid, the flotsam of the divided past flows over Johannesburg and settles, once the tides recede, around Ivan Vladislavic, who, patrolling his patch, surveys the changed cityscape and tries to convey for us the nature and significance of those changes. He roams over grassy mine-dumps, sifting memories, picking up the odd glittering item here and there, before everything of value gets razed or locked away behind one or other of the city's fortifications. For this is now a city of alarms, locks and security guards, a frontier place whose boundaries are perpetually contested, whose inhabitants are 'a tribe of turnkeys'. Vladislavic, this clerk of mementoes, stands still, watches and writes - and his astonishing city comes within our reach. This is for readers who want to put their faith in a writer who knows - and loves - his city from the inside out, bearing comparison with Suketu Mehta's Maximum City, Orhan Pamuk's Istanbul and Joseph Brodsky's Watermark.

An insider capable of revealing his city's spirit and its reality, Ivan Vladisavic combines the eloquence of Jan Morris on Trieste with the precision of Henri Cartier-Bresson on Paris.

About the Author
Born in Pretoria in 1957, IVAN VLADISLAVIC has lived in Johannesburg since 1977. He is the author of five works of fiction and has been awarded the Olive Schreiner Prize and the South African Sunday Times fiction prize.

Awards
Winner of Alan Paton Prize in South Africa and University of Johannesburg Prize 2007 (UK). Short-listed for THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LITERATURE ONDAATJE PRIZE 2007 (UK).



Book Information
ISBN 9781846270604
Author Ivan Vladislavic
Format Paperback
Page Count 208
Imprint Granta Books
Publisher Granta Books
Weight(grams) 148g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 130mm * 13mm