Congo Inc.: Bismarck's Testament In Koli Jean Bofane 9780253031907

To the sound of machine gun fire and the smell of burning flesh, award-winning author In Koli Jean Bofane leads readers on a perilous, satirical journey through the civil conflict and political instability that have been the logical outcome of generations of rapacious multinational corporate activity, corrupt governance, widespread civil conflict, human rights abuses, and environmental degradation in Africa. Isookanga, a Congolese Pygmy, grows up in a small village with big dreams of becoming rich. His vision of the world is shaped by his exploits in Raging Trade, an online game where he seizes control of the world's natural resources by any means possible: high-tech weaponry, slavery, and even genocide. Isookanga leaves his sleepy village to make his fortune in the pulsating capital Kinshasa, where he joins forces with street children, warlords, and a Chinese victim of globalization in this blistering novel about capitalism, colonialism, and the world haunted by the ghosts of Bismarck and Leopold II. Told with just enough levity to make it truly heartbreaking, Congo Inc. is a searing tale about ecological, political, and economic failure.

In Koli Jean Bofane was born in 1954 in the northern region of what is today the Democratic Republic of Congo and currently resides in Belgium. His novels have received numerous awards, including the Grand Prix litteraire de l'Afrique noire, the Grand Prix du Roman Metis, and the Prix des Cinq continents de la Francophonie.

Marjolijn de Jager is a trilingual (Dutch, English, French), award-winning translator of works by Werewere Liking, Tahar Djaout, Ken Bugul, and Camille Laurens. She also translated Gilbert Gatore's The Past Ahead for the Global African Voices series.

A lucid storyline, infused with black humor, nourished with insights, violence, and disenchantment. In Koli Jean Bofane is ruthless.

Overflowing with irony, this picaresque novel is not all that far-fetched given the reality in a country that has been at the heart of planetary competition as far back as the ear of Bismarck.

A nightmare tainted with humor.

Humor and horror rival for space on the pages of this novel, which shows why literature and not economics is best-equipped to speak of today's world.

This scalding indictment of Western interference in Africa should give proponents of pell-mell progress pause.

"An impressive work of the heart of contemporary Africa, and an excellent introduction to the vast country, culture, and history of the Democratic Republic of the Congo."

"Satirical in a way that magnifies the pain, In Koli Jean Bofane's writing is scathing and powerful."