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| The Unexploded Boer Erich Rautenbach Publisher: Zebra Press Price: R190 ISBN: 978177022165 9 Format : 230 x 150 mm Extent: 256 pp. Binding: Trade paperback Imprint: Zebra Press Classification : Memoir BIC code: BGA |
When: Wednesday 2nd November
Time: 5.30 for 6pm
Where: The Bay Bookshop Cape Quarter, 126 The Square - Level One, 27 Somerset Road, Green Point, Cape Town.
Refreshments will be served. Off-street parking available in the Cape Quarter (entrance in Napier Street).
RSVP: 021 421 1301 or capequarter@baybookshop.co.za
The book
In the winter of 1975, Erich Rautenbach’s life took a serious turn for the worse when he was bust for selling weed by gun-toting undercover cops. He’d been selling the dope to raise money to leave South Africa in a bid to escape his army call-up and resist having to shoot people in the name of apartheid. But instead he found himself in the infamous John Vorster Square, at the mercy of drug squad policemen who seemed convinced that he was part of some notorious drug ring. This wild memoir recreates the Cape Town of the 1960s and ’70s, where Erich hung out with people from District Six and the Bo-Kaap and jammed with fellow musicians at The Office on Long Street. He describes his travels around the country, to Durban, Johannesburg, the Zulu village where he bought Durban Poison, and all the places in between, and recounts his experiences at John Vorster Square, The Fort and Sterkfontein Sanatorium, where events quickly spiralled out of control. Written in an electric and hilarious style, The Unexploded Boer is destined to become a cult classic.
Sales points
- A wild story of rebellion and retribution.
- Will appeal to readers who enjoyed books like Acid Alex and Shantaram.
- Vividly recreates a bygone period, with its authoritarian conventions and its weird and wonderful subcultures, and evokes a strong sense of place.
- The writing style is electric, perfectly suited to the content.
The author
Erich Rautenbach was born in Namibia and grew up in Cape Town, where he played
the drums in various rock bands. After the events described in this book, he travelled
to the United Kingdom and Europe and later emigrated to Canada. He currently lives
near Vancouver with his wife, raising four sons, one niece, lots of vegetables, sunflowers,
and the ire of most of the people he meets.