Let’s start the new year with a new author. Talk about a voice you’ve never heard before! In his new, 184-page novel, THE GURUGU PLEDGE, Juan Tomas Avila Laurel writes with the devastating authority of personal experience about living homeless in a mountain cave of Equatorial Guinea. His novel invites you to join him, eavesdropping on conversations, surviving on nothing, as a wretched group of misfits prepare to attempt crossing over into Europe. I’ve never read anything like it.
THE GURUGU PLEDGE
by Juan Tomas Avila Laurel
Regular price $15.95
20% off at University Book Store
Our price $12.76
AN AFRICAN MIGRANT PAYS TRIBUTE
TO THOSE WHO DIDN’T MAKE IT
Meet Peter Ngambo, whose father was accused of writing a seditious poem. Meet Peter Darb, who saw a little girl change into an old woman. Meet Mangu, who is forced to undress in front of a duck and two chickens. They live in a cave on Mount Gurugu in Equatorial Guinea, the only Spanish-speaking country in Africa. They beg in the nearby town for a spare carrot or potato. They play soccer to keep warm. They do their best to avoid the brutal Moroccan police. They are preparing to make the crossing to the land of the albinos.
Avila Laurel’s voice is one you haven’t heard before. It presents a nightmarish vision of life, told with a bracing honesty and interrupted occasionally by laugh-out-loud humor. Spend a couple weeks with the truly wretched of the earth, as they discuss the spiritual component of soccer or the meaning of African pride.
You listen spellbound while they tell their stories, interrupting each other, correcting each other. Sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes horrifying, this simple, powerful novel gives you essential information for understanding our troubled times.
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Come discuss the book with us!
Nick’s Picks Book Club
UNIVERSITY BOOK STORE
4326 University Way NE
The bookstore café
Monday, January 29, 6 pm
Sometimes rough novels are worth it. Something inside me really trusted and bonded with this author. The rough parts are never excessive. I gasped out loud but I never stopped reading. It shows meanness without being mean. I saw 5 copies on the shelf at University Book Store, correctly alphabetized in the “A’s” under Avila Laurel. Go get one. Or phone, we ship for free. Mention you’re a book club member to get your discount. Have a wonderful holiday with people you love and read a few good books! -- Nick