Standing Heavy

Winner of the 2023 Scott Moncrieff Translation Prize Shortlisted for the 2023 International Booker Prize One of The Walrus' Best Fall Books of 2023A funny, fast-paced, and poignant take on Franco-African history, as told through the eyes of three African security guards in Paris.All over the city, they are watching: Black men paid to stand guard, invisible among the wealthy flneurs and yet the only ones who truly see. From Les Grands Moulins to a Sephora on the Champs-lyses, Ferdinand, Ossiri, and Kassoum find their way as undocumented workers amidst political infighting and the ever-changing landscape of immigration policy. Fast-paced and funny, poignant and sharply satirical, Standing Heavy is a searing deconstruction of colonial legacies and capitalist consumption and an unforgettable account of everything that passes under the security guards all-seeing eyes.