This is a riot of a book; a wild ride. Mwangi's story is as long as it takes to build Development Centre. Ben is a labouring hand; Ocholla is a crane operator, and they are best buddies. Ben lives with Wini and her Baby, but Wini disappears. Then, one day the landlord locks his room, so he and Baby move into Ocholla's shack by the stinking Nairobi River. On payday they go to Karara Centre and drink... what else, Karara. Sex workers browse, drunks drink, fight, dance, sleep, smoke, everybody smokes. They lean on each other, living one day at a time, hand to mouth, never looking far enough ahead except to next payday. A laugh and a cry all at once, Mwangi's characters are way too human. I'm going back for more.

On the bus: "the fat buttocks sway into Ben's mouth. Her perfume catches in his throat. He taps the woman's fine rump.
'Keep your arse off me, woman.'
'It is the bus,' she cries.
'Try and hang on to the bloody rail,' he advises. ( )

Funny, sad story of two down and out ne'er do wells in 1960s Nairobi. A Kenyan classic. ( )

Welcome to the hellish underground of a Nairobi slum. Mwangi probably ranks as the most hard-boiled Kenyan writer of his time, though he does at times go over the top. I have personally lived in a few slums in Nairobi back in the 1980's, and despite the impoverishment and harsh living conditions, there were positive elements as well - decent people trying to do the best they could under the oppression of poverty. So, there is some sensationalism in the story, but still not far from the truth. ( )

A beautifully written story of painfully oppressed people. With a fine, subtle turn of his brush, Mwangi shows his characters rise above their situation. Highly recommended. ( )