Thirteen Cents [Paperback]

K. Sello Duiler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 2011

Every city has an unspoken side. Cape Town, between the postcard mountain and sea, has its own shadow-side lurking in its lap: a place of dislocation and uncertainty, dependence and desperation, destruction and survival, gangsters, pimps, pedophiles, hunger, hope and moments of happiness. This book therefore is an extraordinary and unsparing account of the coming of age on the street in Cape Town - a place of dislocation and uncertainty, desperation with glimpses of happiness.

This novel won the coveted Commonwealth Writer's Prize.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

K. SELLO DUIKER was born and raised in Soweto. He went on to study journalism at Rhodes University in Grahamston before moving to Cape Town. His varied experiences while living in Cape Town form the basis of this book. He sadly passed away in 2005, a tender 31 year old

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: New Africa Books (September 15, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0864863578
• ISBN-13: 978-0864863577
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,404,696 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intense & vivid short novel about a South African street hustler, January 19, 2006

By 

John (London, London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Thirteen Cents (Paperback)

Azure is a thirteen-year-old black youth who lives on the streets, does drugs, and earns money by having sex with predominantly white gay men. When a local drug-dealer violently initiates him into the world of the gangs Azure enters a fugue state that precipitates a journey from Cape Town up into the mountains that is also a journey deep into his psyche.

This very readable and at times genuinely disturbing book is written from the point of view of Azure with a naturalness and simplicity which conveys a young adolescent's voice convincingly without precluding the concision, elegance and accuracy that poetry can bring. His candour about his prostitution is unnerving and has an authentic feel to it, as does the author's portrayal of the violent and uncertain lives of drug-dealers and gang-members.