Small things

This is the story of a dreamer, ‘an average man’, singled out by fate for an uncertain life. Jailed for 18 years under apartheid for unspecified sins, he emerges into a world that has no place for him. His fluctuating fortunes land him on the unpredictable, bitter-winter streets of Johannesburg, where ‘harmlessness’ is an ‘unfortunate trait’ but tempestuous skylines offer space to breathe. A trumpet and an indigent dog are his accomplices in survival. But it is his obsessive love for the erratic, hard-hearted Desiree that remains the one constant in his life and impels his search for the elusive meaning of existence.

Through his protagonist, the trumpet-playing philosopher poet, Mohlele weaves his unique magic with words, posing powerful questions in his inimitably individualistic and evocative style.