Julius Chingono's short stories and poems illuminate the everyday world of his native Zimbabwe: the buzzing townships, and the rural homestead. Depicting characters who face poverty, tragedy and violence with strength and courage, the author brings a ready humour to otherwise bleak situations, and a sharp eye to events and encounters in the country. Chingono's acute awareness of the many absurdities of the society in which he lives ensure his place as a life-affirming chronicler of its development.

The two Zimbabwean writers featured in this collection of stories and poems could not be more different. John Eppel is an English literature teacher in Bulawayo; Julius Chingono, from Norton, near Harare, was a rockblaster in mines for many years. Eppel is a deliberate stylist, while Chingono is a deliberate antistylist. The western literary tradition is pervasive in Eppel's writing; Chingono is his own tradition. In another sense, however, they could not be more similar. Both share an aversion for those in power who exploit it to the detriment of all but their cronies and themselves; both feel a deep compassion for the poor and the marginalized of Zimbabwe. And they are both very funny.