Dog Eat Dog

Niq Mhlongo is a prizewinning South African novelist, short story writer, travel journalist, essayist, editor, and educator. His creative writing includes five novels and three short story collections. His work has been translated into several languages, including Burmese, Dutch, Flemish, French, German, Italian, and Spanish.

"Mhlongo describes a searing world that is an 'abject pit of red earth,' an underworld of illegal activity and corruption, but one also suffused with music, from crowd-pleasing choruses in Sesotho to the soulful lyrics of Peter Gabriel, and ultimately, hope. Mhlongo's freshly told novel is the story of a young man determined to never give up trying." (Booklist) "Niq Mhlongo is one of the most high-spirited and irreverent new voices of South Africa's postapartheid literary scene." (New York Times) "Here is a full-throated romp through Soweto and Johannesburg today, with kwaito music blaring, a mélange of African languages floating through the air, and a toxic mix of promise and disappointment infecting everything." (Words without Borders) "Moments of real emotional power intermingled with darkly humorous escapades … a potential trendsetter." (African Review of Books) "Mhlongo uses his witty, gritty and vibrant style to address issues such as AIDS, xenophobia, poverty and the challenges young people continue to face in the new South Africa." (Sowetan) "Full of interesting perceptions and vividdescriptions, and well-drawn andbelievable characters."(New Times (Rwanda)) "A very significant contribution, not just to South African literature but world literature in general." (Eclectica Magazine)