J. M. Coetzee grew up in a new development north of Cape Town, with a father he despised and a mother he both adored and resented. Bold and telling, this masterly evocation of a young boy's life under apartheid is the book Coetzee's many admirers have been waiting for. "Exceptional. . . . A scorched tale of race, caste, shame, and--at times--hilarious bewilderment".--THE NEW YORKER.
