"A moving mural of lives in the underclass of Luanda." -The Guardian In a crumbling apartment block in the Angolan city of Luanda, families work, laugh, scheme, and get by. In the middle of it all is the melancholic Odonato, nostalgic for the country of his youth and searching for his lost son. As his hope drains away and the city outside his doors changes beyond all recognition, Odonato's flesh becomes transparent and his body increasingly weightless. Alongside, disparate stories are woven into the narrative, spanning from the tragic to the comic, from the surreal to the every-day, culminating into a depiction of near-future Luanda. A captivating blend of magical realism, scathing political satire, tender comedy, and literary experimentation, Transparent City offers a gripping and joyful portrait of urban Africa quite unlike any before yet published in English, and places Ondjaki among the continent's most accomplished writers. NOMINATED FOR THE 2019 BEST TRANSLATED BOOK AWARD A VANITY FAIR HOT TYPE BOOK FOR APRIL 2018 A VULTURE MUST-READ TRANSLATED BOOK A LIT HUB FAVOURITE BOOK OF THE YEAR A WORLD LITERATURE TODAY NOTABLE TRANSLATION OF 2018

Luanda, Angola, 1990. Ndalu is a normal twelve-year-old boy in an extraordinary time and place. Like his friends, he enjoys laughing at his teachers, avoiding homework and telling tall tales. But Ndalus teachers are Cuban, his homework assignments include writing essays on the role of workers and peasants, and the tall tales he and his friends tell are about a criminal gang called Empty Crate which specializes in attacking schools. Ndalu is mystified by the family servant, Comrade Antnio, who thinks that Angola worked better when it was a colony of Portugal, and by his Aunt Dada, who lives in Portugal and doesnt know what a ration card is. In a charming voice that is completely original, Good Morning Comrades tells the story of a group of friends who create a perfect childhood in a revolutionary socialist country fighting a bitter war. But the world is changing around these children, and like all childhoods, Ndalus cannot last. An internationally acclaimed novel, already published in half a dozen countries, Good Morning Comrades is an unforgettable work of fiction by one of Africas most exciting younger writers.

"Ondjaki delivers playful magical realism with delightful defiance." —The Barnes & Noble Review "As with Ondjaki's other novels—including Bom dis camaradas (2001; Good Morning Comrades) and Os Transparentes (2012)—this is a strangely deceptive read. Although the narrative often feels rather whimsical, Angola's long history of colonialism and conflict, its various foreign allies and enemies, and the extraordinary suffering of its population, are menacingly present . . . a brave and highly political work."—Times Literary Supplement "Remarkable . . . at once a coming-of-age novel, rousing adventure, and lyrical experiment. . . . It is no surprise that this energetic and endearing novel is the work of a writer of such stunning accomplishment as Ondjaki. . . . The result is ebullient, cinematic, and downright magical."—Words Without Borders In a crumbling apartment block in Luanda, impoverished families hoard memories to survive a corrupt regime. Odonato—nostalgic for the days of socialism—searches for his son, a petty criminal. As his hope drains away, Odonato's flesh becomes transparent and his body increasingly weightless. A captivating blend of magical realism, scathing political satire, and literary experimentation, Slow Red confirms Ondjaki as one of Africa's major writers. Ondjaki is a writer and filmmaker whose novels and stories have been translated into English, French, Spanish, German, and Italian. He lives in Luanda, Angola. Stephen Henighan is a writer and translator. He teaches at the University of Guelph, Ontario.