Johnny Mad Dog

A Novel

Emmanuel Dongala; Translated from the French by Maria Louise Ascher

Picador

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A Los Angeles Times Book Review Favorite Book of the Year
 
Johnny Mad Dog, age sixteen, is a member of a rebel faction bent on seizing control of war-torn Congo. Laokolé, at the same age, simply wants to finish high school. Together, they narrate a crossing of paths that has explosive results. Set amid the chaos of West Africa's civil wars, and acclaimed by such writers as Philip Roth and Chinua Achebe, Emmanuel Dongala's powerful, exuberant, and terrifying new work is a coming-of-age story like no other.

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Book Excerpts

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Chapter One
Laokolé
General Giap proclaimed a period of looting that was to last forty-eight hours.
Instantly I switched off the radio. I took the hurricane lamp and ran toward our little storage shed, to make sure the wheelbarrow was there and in working order. Yes, it was there, lying upside down. I spun its single wheel. The wheel turned smoothly but squeaked a little. I went to the kitchen to find the bit of palm oil we had left. I oiled the wheel and tested it again. It didn’t squeak anymore.

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Reviews

Praise for Johnny Mad Dog

"Terrifying . . . Emmanuel Dongala grabs us from the start with a language that is rude and raw (Mad Dog's) and lyrical (Laokolé's). . . . He continues to vividly re-create his burning piece of earth."--The New York Times Book Review
 
"The manner in which Dongala juxtaposes these two characters' experiences explains more about these wars than most news stories ever could . . . Dongala's fast-paced, irreverent style makes the novel a memorable, thoroughly enjoyable read."--The Boston Globe

"Not only does [Dongala] show the terror, he shows the absurdity, the banality, even the cruel humor, [and] takes swipes at Western relief workers, UN troops, the international media, and 'political experts' who continue to recycle the same story from Africa's war zones."--Anderson Tepper, The Washington Post Book World
 
"Stark, blackly comic . . . In Laokolé and Mad Dog, Emmanuel Dongala gives us two equally extraordinary portraits of [his characters' brains]."--Associated Press

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About the Author

Emmanuel Dongala; Translated from the French by Maria Louise Ascher

Emmanuel Dongala was a resident from birth of Brazzaville, capital of the Congo Republic (formerly French Congo), until he left the country in 1997 during its civil war. He teaches at Simon's Rock College of Bard and lives in western Massachusetts.

Emmanuel Dongala

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Available Formats and Book Details

Johnny Mad Dog
A Novel
Emmanuel Dongala; Translated from the French by Maria Louise Ascher

Trade Paperback

Trade Paperback
Picador
May 2006
Trade Paperback
ISBN: 9780312425302
ISBN10: 0312425309
5 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches, 336 pages
$17.00
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e-Book Agency

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e-Book Agency
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
May 2007
e-Book Agency
ISBN: 9780374708030
ISBN10: 0374708037
336 pages
$9.99
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