Praise For Fiston Mwanza Mujila & Tram 83
· Winner of a FRENCH VOICES AWARD from the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the US, 2014
“Tram 83 isn’t for the faint of heart, but rather, it’s for those that have a sense of humor, an interest in seedy underbellies, and a willingness to, at times, feel a little lost in the haze of biblical imagery, flippant debauchery, free sex, and anarchy. Ezra Pound would be proud; Mujila ‘made it new.’”
— JOSH COOK, Foreword Reviews
“Talk about verve — and vivre: Fiston Mwanza Mujila’s Tram 83 introduces a rousing, remarkable new voice to this world, surely in its original French, most definitely in Roland Glasser’s superb translation. This book has drive and force and movement, it has hops and chops. It has voices!”
— RICK SIMONSON, ELLIOTT BAY BOOK COMPANY (SEATTLE, WA)
“I was totally into the wild formal thug-haunted adventurousness of Tram 83.”
— FORREST GANDER, author of The Trace
“Blade Runner in Africa with a John Coltrane soundtrack.”
— MARK HABER, BRAZOS BOOKSTORE (HOUSTON, TX)
“Through observation and conversation, the reader is exposed to the economic boom and cultural bust of contemporary Africa in search of what the future holds for human relationships and survival in a place where tradition and personal histories are quickly being swept under the rug by global forces. Mujila captures chaos in a hypnotic free-jazz rhythm that is so rarely found in novels of this scope.”
— KEVIN ELLIOTT, 57TH STREET BOOKS (CHICAGO, IL)
“Tram 83 is part Satantango, part Fitzcarraldo, and part Blood Meridian. A dark, funny, and true accomplishment.”
— CHAD FELIX, WORD BOOKSTORES (BROOKLYN, NY & JERSEY CITY, NJ)
“Q: What if Césaire beat Houellebecq at his own game? A: Tram 83.”
— DUSTIN KURTZ
“Tram 83 reads like a modern, twisted The Great Gatsby. …An unaffected view of humanity that is at once repulsive, hilarious, and oddly uplifting. …The novel, like the nightclub, is eccentric and somewhat disturbing, yet inclusive and universally appealing.”
— CAITLIN THOMAS, Three Percent
More international praise for Fiston Mwanza Mujila & Tram 83
· Winner of the GRAND PRIX SGDL DU PREMIER ROMAN (for Debut Novel), 2014
· Shortlisted for the PRIX DU MONDE (Le Monde Literary Prize), 2014
· Shortlisted for the PRIX WEPLER-FONDATION LA POSTE, 2014
· LITERARY PRIZE OF THE CITY OF GRAZ, Austria, 2014
· GOLDEN MEDAL IN LITERATURE of the VI Jeux de la Francophonie in Beirut
“A real discovery among this season’s novels.”
— author ALAIN MABANCKOU, Jeune Afrique
“One of the more exciting discoveries of the fall … Frenetic, flamboyant, and intense, there are touches of Hieronymus Bosch. An insolent, globe-trotting Bosch, who would have read Gabriel García Márquez and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.”
— Le Monde
“Invigorating and astounding, the linguistic creativity of Fiston Mwanza Mujila’s writing paints a vivid picture of an imaginary Africa.”
— Le Populaire du Centre
“A debut novel with a vertiginous rhythm. Picaresque poetry turned into music by a mix of slam and a series of loops and turns as bewitching as a sustained jazz melody.”
— Livres Hebdo
“Tram 83 is a high-speed trip, a tragic, burlesque, melancholic, melodic tale.”
— LIRE Magazine
“Watch out for this blazing comet! Tram 83 will sweep you off your feet like a Coltrane number, and never put you down again.”
— Rolling Stone (France)
“Mujila has invented “locomotive literature,” and the genre of the “stage-tale,” making his debut novel the manifesto for a convulsive poetic prose, a cross between Aimé Césaire and Boris Vian.”
— Le Nouvel Observateur
“A novel of mind-blowing, poetic beauty.”
— Point Magazine
“This debut novel heralds a promising literary career.”
— Notre Afrik
Deep Vellum Publishing
2919 Commerce St. #159, Dallas, Texas 75226
Deep Vellum Publishing is a 501c3 nonprofit literary arts organization founded in 2013.
Copyright © 2014 by Fiston Mwanza Mujila
By agreement with the Pontas Literary & Film Agency.
Originally published in French as Tram 83 by Editions Métailié in Paris, France in 2014
English translation copyright © 2015 by Roland Glasser
Foreword copyright © 2015 by Alain Mabanckou
First edition, 2015
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-941920-05-3 (ebook)
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CONTROL NUMBER: 2015935847
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Cet ouvrage a bénéficié du soutien des Programmes d’aide à la publication de l’Institut Français.
This work, published as part of a program of aid for publication, received support from the Institut Français.
French Voices Logo designed by Serge Bloch
This work, published as part of a program providing publication assistance, received financial support from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States, and FACE (French American Cultural Exchange).
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Cover design & typesetting by Anna Zylicz · annazylicz.com
Text set in Bembo, a typeface modeled on typefaces cut by Francesco Griffo for Aldo Manuzio’s printing of De Aetna in 1495 in Venice.
Distributed by Consortium Book Sales & Distribution.
You will eat by the sweat of your breasts
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