African Psycho

First published in 2003 by Le Serpent à Plumes, France

First published in this translation in 2007 by Soft Skull Press, Brooklyn, New York

Finalist for the Man Booker International Prize 2015

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Alain Mabanckou's uproarious, fleet-footed English-language debut, reissued as a Serpent's Tail Classic

Its title recalls Bret Easton Ellis’s infamous book, but while Ellis’s narrator was a blank slate, African Psycho’s protagonist is a quivering mass of lies, neuroses, & relentless internal chatter. 

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Gregoire Nakobomayo, a petty criminal, has decided to kill his girlfriend Germaine. He’s planned the crime for some time, but still, the act of murder requires a bit of psychological & logistical preparation. Luckily, he has a mentor to call on, the far more accomplished serial killer Angoualima. The fact that Angoualima is dead doesn’t prevent Gregoire from holding lengthy conversations with him. Little by little, Gregoire interweaves Angoualima’s life & criminal exploits with his own. 

Continuing with the plan despite a string of botched attempts, Gregoire’s final shot at offing Germaine leads to an abrupt unraveling. Lauded in France for its fresh & witty style, African Psycho’s inventive use of language surprises & relieves the reader by injecting humor into this disturbing subject.

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Alain Mabanckou was born in 1966 in Congo & currently lives in Los Angeles, where he teaches literature at UCLA. His six previous novels Black Moses, African Psycho, Memoirs of a Porcupine, Broken Glass, Black Bazaar & Tomorrow I'll Be Twenty are all published by Serpent's Tail. Among his many honours are the Académie Française's Grand Prix de literature & the 2016 French Voices Award for The Lights of Pointe-Noire. Mabanckou is a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur, was a finalist for the 2015 Man Booker International Prize & has featured on Vanity Fair's list of France's 50 most influential people.