Books : Kaffir Boy: The True Story of a Black Youth's Coming of Age in Apartheid South Africa
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In association with Amazon.com
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by: Mark Mathabane
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 968.00496024
EAN: 9780452264717
ISBN: 0452264715
Label: Plume
Manufacturer: Plume
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 368
Publication Date: February 26, 1990
Publisher: Plume
Sales Rank: 841479
Studio: Plume
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
Unique first-person account of growing up black under apartheid.
Amazon.com Review:
Kaffir Boy does for apartheid-era South Africa what Richard Wright's Black Boy did for the segregated American South. In stark prose, Mathabane describes his life growing up in a nonwhite ghetto outside Johannesburg--and how he escaped its horrors. Hard work and faith in education played key roles, and Mathabane eventually won a tennis scholarship to an American university. This is not, needless to say, an opportunity afforded to many of the poor blacks who make up most of South Africa's population. And yet Mathabane reveals their troubled world on these pages in a way that only someone who has lived this life can.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Overwritten and Overrated
I'm stumped. This memoir is considered a classic, yet there are platoons of unsung memoirs out of Africa that are far superior. Granted,Mathabane wrote this when he was barely out of high school. But still. The writing is laborious and, worse, many of the scenes, particularly those from his very early childhood, feel embellished. A different shade of James Frey? That said, the book gives a sobering, stark picture of Apartheid-era township life in all its horrors and occasional joys.
Rating:  - outstanding triumph
I really enjoyed reading about this mans triumph to overcome the odds and to follow destiny (getting to America).
Rating:  - An enlightening look into the life of a young man in Apartheid South Africa
KAFFIR BOY is a must read for anyone interested in what life was like for a young boy coming of age in Apartheid South Africa. Mark Mathabane describes in vivid detail the horror of poverty and brutality which was a way of life for black children and families living in the squalor city of Alexandria near Johannesburg, the affluent suburb in South Africa. His account is heartbreaking. Yet, Mark was able to do the unthinkable. He was able to escape (thanks to the support of men like Stan Smith), ... Read More
Rating: - Kaffir Boy: A Powerful Voice
Stark and poignant, Mark Mathabane shares his autobiography of life under South African apartheid until the miracle of his escape to the United States in Kaffir Boy (Free Press, 350 pages). Mr. Mathabane's story is told in three parts. The first, The Road to Alexandra, offers a description of the appalling squalor and violence found in a black ghetto under fourth-class citizen status. How children learn to survive, let alone attempt to carry on any type of hopeful existence, defies any common understanding ... Read More
Rating: - A Must read
I picked up this book after watching the movie "Tsotsi". I was looking for a book about apartheid in South Africa and stumbled upon this one. And I am so glad I did. The author has done a great job in detailing his childhood and the struggle he and his family went through. Half-way through the book I found it extremely depressing and decided to stop. Later that night I realized that people have courage to actually go through and I can't even complete reading the book? People in Africa still go through horrifying ... Read More
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