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Only Stars Know the Meaning of Space: A Literary Mixtape
A vibrant and brilliant new collection of award-winning short fiction from the acclaimed author of the “charming, witty, and incredibly humane” (The Pittsburgh Gazette) debut The Eternal Audience of One.Presented as a literary mixtape, Only Stars Know the Meaning of Space is a work of literature that provides you with a modern reading experience. The A-Side, read as one narrative, tells the story of a soon-to-be thirty-year-old aspiring writer navigating a complicated world. The B-Side, taken as a separate experience, features (seemingly) independent and unrelated short stories. There’s “Crunchy, Green Apples (or, Omo)”, a story about loss told by the strangest of narrative a shopping list. “Sofa, So Good, Sort Of (or, John Muafangejo)” is a first-person account of a family’s history and a long journey towards hope. A group of friends attempts to navigate a recent breakup in “From the Lost City of Hurtlantis to the Streets of Helldorado (or, Franco).” When read together, however, a third world emerges—a complex, intergenerational, and interconnected world exploring the universal gaping void of grief. Rather than attempting to cross this black hole directly, the collection carefully traces around its edges, revealing the enormity of this cosmic force from the “electrifying voice you have been waiting for” (Maaza Mengiste, author of The Shadow King).
319 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 3, 2024
24 people are currently reading
8227 people want to read
About the author
Rémy Ngamije
7 books148 followersRémy Ngamije is a Rwandan-born Namibian author, editor, publisher, photographer, literary educator, and entrepreneur. His debut novel The Eternal Audience Of One was first published in South Africa by Blackbird Books and is available worldwide from Scout Press (S&S). In 2022 it was honoured with a Special Mention at the inaugural Grand Prix Panafricain De Litterature and won the inaugural African Literary Award from the Museum of the African Diaspora.
Only Stars Know The Meaning Of Space, his collection of award-winning fiction, will be published in December, 2024 by Scout Press (S&S).
He won the Africa Regional Prize of the 2021 Commonwealth Short Story Prize and was shortlisted for the AKO Caine Prize for African Writing in 2021 and 2020. He was longlisted and shortlisted for the 2020 and 2021 Afritondo Short Story Prizes respectively. In 2019 he was shortlisted for Best Original Fiction by Stack Magazines.
Rémy is the founder and chairperson of Doek, an independent arts organisation in Namibia supporting the literary arts and the editor-in-chief of Doek! Literary Magazine, Namibia’s first and only literary magazine. He is also the founder and director of several literary initiatives such as the Bank Windhoek Doek Literary Awards, the Doek Literary Festival, and the Doek Anthology.
He has served as a judge of the Kalemba, Kendeka, Plaza, and Commonwealth short story prizes.
He is represented by Cecile Barendsma of the Cecile B Literary Agency.
Only Stars Know The Meaning Of Space, his collection of award-winning fiction, will be published in December, 2024 by Scout Press (S&S).
He won the Africa Regional Prize of the 2021 Commonwealth Short Story Prize and was shortlisted for the AKO Caine Prize for African Writing in 2021 and 2020. He was longlisted and shortlisted for the 2020 and 2021 Afritondo Short Story Prizes respectively. In 2019 he was shortlisted for Best Original Fiction by Stack Magazines.
Rémy is the founder and chairperson of Doek, an independent arts organisation in Namibia supporting the literary arts and the editor-in-chief of Doek! Literary Magazine, Namibia’s first and only literary magazine. He is also the founder and director of several literary initiatives such as the Bank Windhoek Doek Literary Awards, the Doek Literary Festival, and the Doek Anthology.
He has served as a judge of the Kalemba, Kendeka, Plaza, and Commonwealth short story prizes.
He is represented by Cecile Barendsma of the Cecile B Literary Agency.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
May 14, 2025
Rémy truly does it all: Rwanda-born and Namibia-raised, he went to university in South Africa and is not only a writer of fiction, nonfiction and poetry, but also an educator, editor, photographer and founder of Doek, a Namibian arts organization; Namibia’s first literary magazine; and the biennial Doek Literary Festival. And on top of that, he's my favorite author. Only Stars Know the Meaning of Space is one of my favorite novels of all time, and I'm still bitter about the fact that he's so underrated. Ya'll need to give this man a chance! Read his fucking work!
Subtitled “A Literary Mixtape,” Only Stars Know the Meaning of Space is not a straightforward short-story collection, but instead alternates between one through-line narrative — the A-Side — and 10 semi-independent stories — the B-Side. Only half-way through did I realise that the book was structured this way. I genuinely cannot wait to reread this short story collection because the interconnectedness (and trying to connect the strings between the stories) made the whole reading experience so much more enjoyable. I really struggled with the first few stories and was confused and unsure about where Rémy was headed, but with each subsequent story, Only Stars Know the Meaning of Space wrote its way into my heart, and I finished the book with the biggest smile on my face and an ache in my heart.
The A-Side follows a writer whose parents named him The Way, the Goal, the Destination on the Horizon, but whose friends call him Rambo. He’s about to turn 30 in the first story, “The Hope, the Prayer, and the Anthem (Or, the Fall So Far),” which serves as an introduction of sorts as he lays out the biggest parts of his life: his literary dreams and ambitions (to be headlining literary events and rumored to be having an affair with Zadie Smith); his parents’ love story and his mother’s relatively recent death; his ride-or-die friends (Franco, Rinzlo, Lindo and Cicero — hence the need for the writer to be given a nickname with an O at its end); his ex-girlfriend (he’s not over her); the things he’s spent his 20s doing instead of writing (sleeping around, reading, learning salsa, teaching). “You’re twenty-nine, fam,” he says toward the end of the story, with a “paperback to your name.” Which made me think, true, but that’s also more than most!
Throughout the book, the A-Side stories expand on elements hinted at or briefly mentioned in the first story. His mother’s death looms large throughout these, with the piece right in the middle of the book, “Tornado (or, The Only Poem You Ever Wrote),” confronting the awful night when he was summoned to the hospital at 3 a.m. by his brother. Still, the tone of most of the A-Side stories is lighthearted, with the writer being an undeniably funny narrator. So much so that you can't shake the feeling that Rambo serves as a stand-in for Rémy himself. In "Crunchy Green Apples (or, Omo)", he observes: "People think stricter immigration laws make borders safer, protect the labor pool, and keep criminals out but they just make Jollof rice weaker."
In "Little Brother", Rémy excellently showcases strained family dynamics all of us are all too familiar with. Our narrator, the "older brother" notes when his mother, yet again, makes fun of his shortcomings: "My brother wet his bed until he was eleven and she's never used him as material for her comedy specials."
Another instance of Rémy impeccable humoristic style is the opening paragraph of "The Giver of Nicknames", which I have to quote in full: "When we were clowns, children, and things—before we sprouted personalities, individual hopes, and collective guilt; before we reconciled all aspects of our conflicting beings—there were four Donovans at our school: Donovan “Donnie Blanco” Mitchell, the rapist; Donovan “Donnie Darko” Manyika, the fastest kid in our phrontistery; the short-lived Donovan Latrell who, hoping to be called Donnie Brasco or DL when he realised there weren’t enough Donnies to go around, was called Fatty; and Mr. Donovan, our English teacher—Mr. D for short." This was one of my favorite stories to begin with, as it tackles issues of classism (and rich people getting away with shit they shouldn't get away with) so accurately and wonderfully. Rémy's humorous tone throughout is the cherry on top that really hammers the point home.
The writer’s trajectory is largely one of growth and maturity, with each story focusing on a different aspect of his life such as the girlfriend and the breakup, a woman he was involved with who always showed up with bruises from her “gangster boyfriend”, the era when his teenage self became tired of getting into fistfights and started going to the library instead (and then got his friends to fall for books too). The “Gangster's Girlfriend” was by far my least favorite story in this collection because Rémy didn't strike the right note. I'm sure he wanted to let his audiences know that his narrator is an asshole misogynist but therefore, the whole story made light of domestic violence and read as incredibly sexist, e.g. when describing the woman's bruises, the narrator notices: "You couldn't pull your gaze away from her face. The Gangster made her cheek look like it was expecting." During a different incident, he says: "Whatever logic you spilled into her didn't take root in her uterus walls, because a couple of days later she'd show up looking like a peach Mike Tyson used for speed practice." I don't know about you but I can't see the humor in that situation and therefore thought that the jokes, made at the expense of the victim, showed bad taste.
All but one of the stories have been published before; quite a few won, or were shortlisted for, prestigious awards. It’s odd that the writer’s narrative still works and the A-Side stories weave so seemingly together.
Many of the B-Side stories seem to be entirely unrelated to the A-Side narrative in terms of plot or characters. “Wicked,” for example, follows a woman in Nairobi having an affair with a married man who goes to the U.N. refugee center in Dadaab, Kenya, every month to see whether his wife and daughter have shown up there. “Annus Horribilis” is a beautiful and stylish piece about a couple’s first and terrible year that is mostly told through a six-page sentence full of parentheticals — and while it’s tempting to try to fit the writer and his ex into the piece, it’s clearly not about them. In “Annus Horribilis”, Namibia is describes as "a place no films were made of, a city no poets serenaded with verse, a place of small, unrecorded tragedies..." It's safe to say, Rémy is finally the one putting Namibia on the map.
Then there are the ones that clearly do link up to the A-Side in some way: “Seven Silences of the Heart,” for instance, is narrated by the spirit of the writer’s miscarried would-be sibling, and “Granddaughter of the Octopus” ends up being about the writer’s great-grandmother.
What’s striking about quite a few of the stories — A- and B-sides alike — is the way they focus on groups of people moving through life together, for better and for worse. Two especially striking standalones are “The Neighborhood Watch,” about a group of people living under a bridge in Windhoek, Namibia, who work together to collect food and material goods in order to survive, and “Important Terminology for Military-Age Males”, a story originally told through the means of the alphabet (with 26 little paragraphs for each letter), about the horrors committed by South African Defense Force soldiers during the years-long South African Border War (also known as the Namibian War of Independence).
In "Love Is A Neglected Thing", our narrator states: "Nothing wants to die—everything fights to cling to life when the dark beyond starts blocking the light." Which is beautifully poetic but also tragically true. The death of Rambo's mother looms over the A-Side. It is her death that makes him realise how utterly alone he is. In "The Sage of the Six Paths", we find this haunting passage: "But my mother's death was a tectonic event. The cracks went all the way to my core, turning it into a void, imperceptible to the naked eye, only glimpsed sideways through silent lulls in conversations, or painful and distancing absences in my affections and friendships. I was alone." And Rémy spoke to my own fears in a way that I didn't expect. The loss of a mother is an event of such magnitude and despair that I don't even wanna entertain that thought or how it will pertain to my life in the future.
The last story ends on our narrator's 30th birthday: "Franco calls me. ‘Happy birthday, bro,’ he says. ‘Everything you gain now, you gain yourself. And everything you lose, you lose by yourself too.’ ‘That's some sage shit, Franco.’ He laughs. ‘So how do you feel, old man?’ 'So far, so good.’ Sort of." And bestie babes, let me tell you, it made me wanna cry. Because in that "So far, so good. Sort of." is so much truth. That's what it feels like to live and love and share your life with other people. And so it came as no surprise that Rémy, during the end credits, tells his mom: "My mother—we're still here: so far, so good." Yeah, okay, I'm bawling now. Good bye!
Subtitled “A Literary Mixtape,” Only Stars Know the Meaning of Space is not a straightforward short-story collection, but instead alternates between one through-line narrative — the A-Side — and 10 semi-independent stories — the B-Side. Only half-way through did I realise that the book was structured this way. I genuinely cannot wait to reread this short story collection because the interconnectedness (and trying to connect the strings between the stories) made the whole reading experience so much more enjoyable. I really struggled with the first few stories and was confused and unsure about where Rémy was headed, but with each subsequent story, Only Stars Know the Meaning of Space wrote its way into my heart, and I finished the book with the biggest smile on my face and an ache in my heart.
The A-Side follows a writer whose parents named him The Way, the Goal, the Destination on the Horizon, but whose friends call him Rambo. He’s about to turn 30 in the first story, “The Hope, the Prayer, and the Anthem (Or, the Fall So Far),” which serves as an introduction of sorts as he lays out the biggest parts of his life: his literary dreams and ambitions (to be headlining literary events and rumored to be having an affair with Zadie Smith); his parents’ love story and his mother’s relatively recent death; his ride-or-die friends (Franco, Rinzlo, Lindo and Cicero — hence the need for the writer to be given a nickname with an O at its end); his ex-girlfriend (he’s not over her); the things he’s spent his 20s doing instead of writing (sleeping around, reading, learning salsa, teaching). “You’re twenty-nine, fam,” he says toward the end of the story, with a “paperback to your name.” Which made me think, true, but that’s also more than most!
Throughout the book, the A-Side stories expand on elements hinted at or briefly mentioned in the first story. His mother’s death looms large throughout these, with the piece right in the middle of the book, “Tornado (or, The Only Poem You Ever Wrote),” confronting the awful night when he was summoned to the hospital at 3 a.m. by his brother. Still, the tone of most of the A-Side stories is lighthearted, with the writer being an undeniably funny narrator. So much so that you can't shake the feeling that Rambo serves as a stand-in for Rémy himself. In "Crunchy Green Apples (or, Omo)", he observes: "People think stricter immigration laws make borders safer, protect the labor pool, and keep criminals out but they just make Jollof rice weaker."
In "Little Brother", Rémy excellently showcases strained family dynamics all of us are all too familiar with. Our narrator, the "older brother" notes when his mother, yet again, makes fun of his shortcomings: "My brother wet his bed until he was eleven and she's never used him as material for her comedy specials."
Another instance of Rémy impeccable humoristic style is the opening paragraph of "The Giver of Nicknames", which I have to quote in full: "When we were clowns, children, and things—before we sprouted personalities, individual hopes, and collective guilt; before we reconciled all aspects of our conflicting beings—there were four Donovans at our school: Donovan “Donnie Blanco” Mitchell, the rapist; Donovan “Donnie Darko” Manyika, the fastest kid in our phrontistery; the short-lived Donovan Latrell who, hoping to be called Donnie Brasco or DL when he realised there weren’t enough Donnies to go around, was called Fatty; and Mr. Donovan, our English teacher—Mr. D for short." This was one of my favorite stories to begin with, as it tackles issues of classism (and rich people getting away with shit they shouldn't get away with) so accurately and wonderfully. Rémy's humorous tone throughout is the cherry on top that really hammers the point home.
The writer’s trajectory is largely one of growth and maturity, with each story focusing on a different aspect of his life such as the girlfriend and the breakup, a woman he was involved with who always showed up with bruises from her “gangster boyfriend”, the era when his teenage self became tired of getting into fistfights and started going to the library instead (and then got his friends to fall for books too). The “Gangster's Girlfriend” was by far my least favorite story in this collection because Rémy didn't strike the right note. I'm sure he wanted to let his audiences know that his narrator is an asshole misogynist but therefore, the whole story made light of domestic violence and read as incredibly sexist, e.g. when describing the woman's bruises, the narrator notices: "You couldn't pull your gaze away from her face. The Gangster made her cheek look like it was expecting." During a different incident, he says: "Whatever logic you spilled into her didn't take root in her uterus walls, because a couple of days later she'd show up looking like a peach Mike Tyson used for speed practice." I don't know about you but I can't see the humor in that situation and therefore thought that the jokes, made at the expense of the victim, showed bad taste.
All but one of the stories have been published before; quite a few won, or were shortlisted for, prestigious awards. It’s odd that the writer’s narrative still works and the A-Side stories weave so seemingly together.
Many of the B-Side stories seem to be entirely unrelated to the A-Side narrative in terms of plot or characters. “Wicked,” for example, follows a woman in Nairobi having an affair with a married man who goes to the U.N. refugee center in Dadaab, Kenya, every month to see whether his wife and daughter have shown up there. “Annus Horribilis” is a beautiful and stylish piece about a couple’s first and terrible year that is mostly told through a six-page sentence full of parentheticals — and while it’s tempting to try to fit the writer and his ex into the piece, it’s clearly not about them. In “Annus Horribilis”, Namibia is describes as "a place no films were made of, a city no poets serenaded with verse, a place of small, unrecorded tragedies..." It's safe to say, Rémy is finally the one putting Namibia on the map.
Then there are the ones that clearly do link up to the A-Side in some way: “Seven Silences of the Heart,” for instance, is narrated by the spirit of the writer’s miscarried would-be sibling, and “Granddaughter of the Octopus” ends up being about the writer’s great-grandmother.
What’s striking about quite a few of the stories — A- and B-sides alike — is the way they focus on groups of people moving through life together, for better and for worse. Two especially striking standalones are “The Neighborhood Watch,” about a group of people living under a bridge in Windhoek, Namibia, who work together to collect food and material goods in order to survive, and “Important Terminology for Military-Age Males”, a story originally told through the means of the alphabet (with 26 little paragraphs for each letter), about the horrors committed by South African Defense Force soldiers during the years-long South African Border War (also known as the Namibian War of Independence).
"I'm not ready to be alone. And you say: 'You won't be. Just hold the light—help and hope are on the way.'"Rémy's message is a beautiful one: we can only do this life thing together. Despite some shortcomings, I ended up rating Only Stars Know the Meaning of Space five stars. I was blindsided by how real the second half of this collection gets. Rémy is so vulnerable and raw, I found it utterly touching.
In "Love Is A Neglected Thing", our narrator states: "Nothing wants to die—everything fights to cling to life when the dark beyond starts blocking the light." Which is beautifully poetic but also tragically true. The death of Rambo's mother looms over the A-Side. It is her death that makes him realise how utterly alone he is. In "The Sage of the Six Paths", we find this haunting passage: "But my mother's death was a tectonic event. The cracks went all the way to my core, turning it into a void, imperceptible to the naked eye, only glimpsed sideways through silent lulls in conversations, or painful and distancing absences in my affections and friendships. I was alone." And Rémy spoke to my own fears in a way that I didn't expect. The loss of a mother is an event of such magnitude and despair that I don't even wanna entertain that thought or how it will pertain to my life in the future.
The last story ends on our narrator's 30th birthday: "Franco calls me. ‘Happy birthday, bro,’ he says. ‘Everything you gain now, you gain yourself. And everything you lose, you lose by yourself too.’ ‘That's some sage shit, Franco.’ He laughs. ‘So how do you feel, old man?’ 'So far, so good.’ Sort of." And bestie babes, let me tell you, it made me wanna cry. Because in that "So far, so good. Sort of." is so much truth. That's what it feels like to live and love and share your life with other people. And so it came as no surprise that Rémy, during the end credits, tells his mom: "My mother—we're still here: so far, so good." Yeah, okay, I'm bawling now. Good bye!
January 28, 2025
A literary mixtape, indeed. Every single story in this collection feels necessary and is a surprising combination of connected and whole, where any of them could stand on their own.
Ngamije has set up pairings and pseudo-pairings of short stories...A-sides and B-sides. The A-sides carry a narrative through line with the main character (in a variety of style deliveries) as he works through the grief following his mother's death. The B-Sides are a plethora of other people's perspectives, backstories, side stories, and maybe fictional stories within the framework since the main character is a writer...you never really know with some how they're connected, but the entirety of the collection comes together the nearer you get to the end.
Knowing your main character is one thing, but being able to fully realize side characters and have them carry their own equal weight of the overarching narrative is what really elevates this collection to a stunning example of the author's talent. What could easily fall prey to a gimmicky mess is exactly what makes this one stand out because Ngamije has set up a structure that only enhances his style, skill, and vision. I will absolutely check out whatever he produces next.
I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This affected neither my opinion of the book nor the content of my review.
Ngamije has set up pairings and pseudo-pairings of short stories...A-sides and B-sides. The A-sides carry a narrative through line with the main character (in a variety of style deliveries) as he works through the grief following his mother's death. The B-Sides are a plethora of other people's perspectives, backstories, side stories, and maybe fictional stories within the framework since the main character is a writer...you never really know with some how they're connected, but the entirety of the collection comes together the nearer you get to the end.
Knowing your main character is one thing, but being able to fully realize side characters and have them carry their own equal weight of the overarching narrative is what really elevates this collection to a stunning example of the author's talent. What could easily fall prey to a gimmicky mess is exactly what makes this one stand out because Ngamije has set up a structure that only enhances his style, skill, and vision. I will absolutely check out whatever he produces next.
I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This affected neither my opinion of the book nor the content of my review.
August 23, 2025
This is one of those books that I knew I had to finish, but didn't really want to. The concept was cool--short stories interspersed within a longer story, but there were times I struggled to see the connection. It was interesting to read a book set in Namibia, I think that's a new literary country for me.
October 21, 2025
This book is one of the most unusually structured books I have read. It is told in the format of a "mixtape" like those old cassettes with two distinct “sides.” The A-Side tells the story of a soon-to-be thirty-year-old aspiring writer living in Windhoek, Namibia. He deals with a breakup and the death of his mother. The B-side includes ten (mostly) separate short stories. Sample topics include losses, relationships, immigration, homelessness, domestic abuse, and creative expression. The stories provide cultural snippets of life in Windhoek. This one is a bit too fragmented for my taste, but the author’s talent is obvious. He is experimenting with style and writes with a distinctive voice. I picked this book up on the strength of the author’s debut, The Eternal Audience of One, which I loved. I will be keeping an eye on Ngamije’s career and am curious to see what he does next.
July 1, 2024
Thank you so much to Rémy Ngamije, Gallery/Scout Press, and NetGalley for providing this free eARC in exchange for an honest review.
I do believe that the term "literary mixtape" is what initially drew me in to this series of stories. And after eating this right up, this is the only possible term that can truly encompass what this is. Only Stars Know the Meaning of Space is indeed a mixtape of sorts, with the A-side following one specific narrative, while the B-side exists as a somewhat companion piece with individual maybeeee unrelated stories that help to build the overall novel to its conclusion.
There is just something particular about the writing that gripped me from beginning to end. It is quite descriptive not in the setting, but rather in the headspace of either the POV character or one of the many characters that exist in the short stories. I could really get a feel of the emotions that one might be feeling at the time. And adding on to this, the prose is to die for and is quite poetic; packed with metaphors upon metaphors and dreamy life lessons and sayings sprinkled throughout.
The narrative really keeps the reader on their toes, as all of these seemingly "disconnected" stories may or may not build off of one another to create an all-encompassing story. It is ultimately up to the reader to put on their thinking cap and read between the lines to discover how (if at all) all of the narratives intertwine and intermingle amongst each other.
I do believe that the term "literary mixtape" is what initially drew me in to this series of stories. And after eating this right up, this is the only possible term that can truly encompass what this is. Only Stars Know the Meaning of Space is indeed a mixtape of sorts, with the A-side following one specific narrative, while the B-side exists as a somewhat companion piece with individual maybeeee unrelated stories that help to build the overall novel to its conclusion.
There is just something particular about the writing that gripped me from beginning to end. It is quite descriptive not in the setting, but rather in the headspace of either the POV character or one of the many characters that exist in the short stories. I could really get a feel of the emotions that one might be feeling at the time. And adding on to this, the prose is to die for and is quite poetic; packed with metaphors upon metaphors and dreamy life lessons and sayings sprinkled throughout.
The narrative really keeps the reader on their toes, as all of these seemingly "disconnected" stories may or may not build off of one another to create an all-encompassing story. It is ultimately up to the reader to put on their thinking cap and read between the lines to discover how (if at all) all of the narratives intertwine and intermingle amongst each other.
January 5, 2025
This books wasn’t for me. It was too abstract and I struggled to figure out who was narrating, what was going on, and how it was all connected.
November 30, 2024
This is a literary masterpiece that defies conventional storytelling. Raw and real, this book is an emotional journey that pulls no punches. Ngamije’s writing is exquisite, offering insights and expressions so original and profound that they stayed with me long after I turned the last page.
What makes this reading experience truly extraordinary is its pairing with the Spotify mixtape, which complements the narrative perfectly. The music deepened the atmosphere, creating a multi-sensory experience that elevated the story beyond the pages.
This book is unlike anything I’ve read before. It’s not just a collection of short stories—it’s an experience. Ngamije’s prose captures the intricacies of human emotion and the vastness of space, both literal and metaphorical, in a way that feels deeply personal yet universally resonant.
Only Stars Know the Meaning of Space is a must-read for anyone who craves something fresh, deeply moving, and utterly unforgettable.
What makes this reading experience truly extraordinary is its pairing with the Spotify mixtape, which complements the narrative perfectly. The music deepened the atmosphere, creating a multi-sensory experience that elevated the story beyond the pages.
This book is unlike anything I’ve read before. It’s not just a collection of short stories—it’s an experience. Ngamije’s prose captures the intricacies of human emotion and the vastness of space, both literal and metaphorical, in a way that feels deeply personal yet universally resonant.
Only Stars Know the Meaning of Space is a must-read for anyone who craves something fresh, deeply moving, and utterly unforgettable.
December 30, 2024
This was one of the most unique and clever books I've ever read (caveat: this book is not going to enjoyable for everyone. It requires a lot of attention, patience, and appreciation for bold choices in writing styles).
The metaphors come at the reader like a Vin Diesel movie franchise. I spent a lot time on each chapter for the B-side trying to figure out if there was an overlap with the main story being conducted on the A-side. It was tough because most of the chapters are written in the third person without any clear designation who the protagonist is. In fact, we don't learn Rambo's identity until quite late in his story.
Important note: the chapter titled "Tornado" is absolutely brilliant how Rambo's mind is whirling like a tornado and the text is shaped like a tornado.
B-side analysis (in chapter order):
Wicked (2) - focuses on a woman who pines after a man named, Salman. This is the only chapter that mentions Salman. Not clear if this woman is part of the A-side.
The Neighborhood Watch (4) - my favorite chapter in the book that follows five unhoused individuals and how they survive on a daily basis. I assume that the main character in this chapter, Elias, is also the character referenced in the next B-side chapter.
Important Terminology for Military-Age Males (6) - this was really clever and I didn't pick up on it until I went back and noticed that each subchapter here starts with a different letter of the alphabet ;it was quite subtle. As stated above, I suspect this chapter focuses on Elias.
Annus Horribilis (8) - I don't even know how to describe this other than a three page run on sentence with lots of parentheticals. I liked the non-traditional writing style exhibited here.
The Giver of Nicknames (10) - this was my second favorite chapter that follows one student who provides nicknames for four separate characters in his school named "Donovan." This chapter appears to have no connection to other chapters and predominantly focuses on the entitlement showered upon "Donnie Blanco" because his parents are incredibly wealthy.
The Other Guy (12) - another chapter that seems to have little connection to the others, but I could be wrong. This one focuses on a man who is cheated on and pretends like it doesn't bother him.
Seven Silences of the Heart (14) - this is the first obvious chapter that centers on Rambo, but told from the perspective of "Grief" which reminded me of the narrator in "The Book Thief." So not 100% original, but definitely different and effective.
Granddaughter of the Octopus (16) - this one seems to focus on Rambo's mother and the lessons she learned from her grandmother. Great wordplay with the title because the chapter begins with, "My grandmother always reminded me of Ursula, from the Disney version of The Little Mermaid" and like an octopus (with eight tentacles), her grandmother had eight sons by eight different men.
Nine Months Since Forever (18) - this was easy because it's also titled, "Cicero's Interlude," Cicero being one of Rambo's friends.
Only Stars Know the Meaning of Space (20) - this was easy too because it's also titled, "Love's Interlude," Love being the name or possible nickname of Rambo's most recent girlfriend.
This book was full of amazing descriptions. I couldn't possibly capture all of them, but here are my favorites:
"The ensuing female attention was crazy. You chewed through them like Pac-Man with three bonus lives, it's a miracle you didn't eat a ghost and die."
"You were no Ray Allen, and with your layup game shot to shit, you could keep the failing construction industry supplied with cheap bricks."
"The mere sight of golden apples sets you off. She detested them. She said they cheated her of the crunch they were supposed to make when they were bitten."
"She mourned the loss of the cassava connect who left the country because of paperwork issues. 'People think stricter immigration laws make borders safer, protect the labor pool, and keep criminals out,' she said, 'but they just make Jollof rice weaker.'"
"People's eyes can accept a man in tattered, browned, and dirty clothing, even in a store or a church. But a smelly man is despised everywhere."
"She said the universal 'okay' younger brothers use to piss off their older siblings. The 'okay' of 'Sure, whatever makes you feel better about yourself.' The 'okay' of 'This thing that matters so much to you is of no consequence to me.'"
"You can feel a vein growing in your forehead. The vein you get when a bad curry calls your midnight hotline."
"In the cursory contact of our eyes I understood the difference between an instant and a moment ... an instant is blinked away, forgotten so quickly it's barely registered, but a moment spills past its temporal occurrence - a moment has consequences."
"Books are easier to read than girls."
"'Why, Lindo,' I asked him, 'why can't I just have a Vanessa Carlton kinda girl?' 'Vanessa Carlton, dude?' 'Don't even play. VC is mad pretty - the original ride-or-die-walk-a-thousand-miles bad bitch.'"
"The other Caretakers and Lineker hoovered their pizzas and tagged themselves out of the ring, paying their bills, vanishing like genies after a third wish."
"Recently broken-up men should be treated like Chernobyl."
"I think it's the way he referred to her as the wife - in lowercase, like Nicole didn't command the respect of the Caps Lock button, even in speech."
"I deflected her questions this way and that. Serena, yo-yoing Sharapova at an Open, would've been proud of me."
"Any woman calling up such exes should know the facts as Charles Darwin found them on the Galapagos Islands: after a breakup, instead of going on a journey to the center of their hurt, they'll go around the world in eighty baes, avenging themselves upon everyone like they're the wounded counts of Monte Cristo."
The metaphors come at the reader like a Vin Diesel movie franchise. I spent a lot time on each chapter for the B-side trying to figure out if there was an overlap with the main story being conducted on the A-side. It was tough because most of the chapters are written in the third person without any clear designation who the protagonist is. In fact, we don't learn Rambo's identity until quite late in his story.
Important note: the chapter titled "Tornado" is absolutely brilliant how Rambo's mind is whirling like a tornado and the text is shaped like a tornado.
B-side analysis (in chapter order):
Wicked (2) - focuses on a woman who pines after a man named, Salman. This is the only chapter that mentions Salman. Not clear if this woman is part of the A-side.
The Neighborhood Watch (4) - my favorite chapter in the book that follows five unhoused individuals and how they survive on a daily basis. I assume that the main character in this chapter, Elias, is also the character referenced in the next B-side chapter.
Important Terminology for Military-Age Males (6) - this was really clever and I didn't pick up on it until I went back and noticed that each subchapter here starts with a different letter of the alphabet ;it was quite subtle. As stated above, I suspect this chapter focuses on Elias.
Annus Horribilis (8) - I don't even know how to describe this other than a three page run on sentence with lots of parentheticals. I liked the non-traditional writing style exhibited here.
The Giver of Nicknames (10) - this was my second favorite chapter that follows one student who provides nicknames for four separate characters in his school named "Donovan." This chapter appears to have no connection to other chapters and predominantly focuses on the entitlement showered upon "Donnie Blanco" because his parents are incredibly wealthy.
The Other Guy (12) - another chapter that seems to have little connection to the others, but I could be wrong. This one focuses on a man who is cheated on and pretends like it doesn't bother him.
Seven Silences of the Heart (14) - this is the first obvious chapter that centers on Rambo, but told from the perspective of "Grief" which reminded me of the narrator in "The Book Thief." So not 100% original, but definitely different and effective.
Granddaughter of the Octopus (16) - this one seems to focus on Rambo's mother and the lessons she learned from her grandmother. Great wordplay with the title because the chapter begins with, "My grandmother always reminded me of Ursula, from the Disney version of The Little Mermaid" and like an octopus (with eight tentacles), her grandmother had eight sons by eight different men.
Nine Months Since Forever (18) - this was easy because it's also titled, "Cicero's Interlude," Cicero being one of Rambo's friends.
Only Stars Know the Meaning of Space (20) - this was easy too because it's also titled, "Love's Interlude," Love being the name or possible nickname of Rambo's most recent girlfriend.
This book was full of amazing descriptions. I couldn't possibly capture all of them, but here are my favorites:
"The ensuing female attention was crazy. You chewed through them like Pac-Man with three bonus lives, it's a miracle you didn't eat a ghost and die."
"You were no Ray Allen, and with your layup game shot to shit, you could keep the failing construction industry supplied with cheap bricks."
"The mere sight of golden apples sets you off. She detested them. She said they cheated her of the crunch they were supposed to make when they were bitten."
"She mourned the loss of the cassava connect who left the country because of paperwork issues. 'People think stricter immigration laws make borders safer, protect the labor pool, and keep criminals out,' she said, 'but they just make Jollof rice weaker.'"
"People's eyes can accept a man in tattered, browned, and dirty clothing, even in a store or a church. But a smelly man is despised everywhere."
"She said the universal 'okay' younger brothers use to piss off their older siblings. The 'okay' of 'Sure, whatever makes you feel better about yourself.' The 'okay' of 'This thing that matters so much to you is of no consequence to me.'"
"You can feel a vein growing in your forehead. The vein you get when a bad curry calls your midnight hotline."
"In the cursory contact of our eyes I understood the difference between an instant and a moment ... an instant is blinked away, forgotten so quickly it's barely registered, but a moment spills past its temporal occurrence - a moment has consequences."
"Books are easier to read than girls."
"'Why, Lindo,' I asked him, 'why can't I just have a Vanessa Carlton kinda girl?' 'Vanessa Carlton, dude?' 'Don't even play. VC is mad pretty - the original ride-or-die-walk-a-thousand-miles bad bitch.'"
"The other Caretakers and Lineker hoovered their pizzas and tagged themselves out of the ring, paying their bills, vanishing like genies after a third wish."
"Recently broken-up men should be treated like Chernobyl."
"I think it's the way he referred to her as the wife - in lowercase, like Nicole didn't command the respect of the Caps Lock button, even in speech."
"I deflected her questions this way and that. Serena, yo-yoing Sharapova at an Open, would've been proud of me."
"Any woman calling up such exes should know the facts as Charles Darwin found them on the Galapagos Islands: after a breakup, instead of going on a journey to the center of their hurt, they'll go around the world in eighty baes, avenging themselves upon everyone like they're the wounded counts of Monte Cristo."
November 5, 2024
4.5 stars
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review! I loved this. The prose, the topics covered, the unique style of putting this book together.. it was so good. There's so many quotes I wish I could share, but you'll just have to check out the book when it publishes on 12/3 :)
This is presented as a literary mixtape: an A side and a B side. A collection of short stories flip flopping between two seemingly unrelated/unconnected people. The way this story unfolds is truly unlike anything I've ever read before. I highly recommend!
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review! I loved this. The prose, the topics covered, the unique style of putting this book together.. it was so good. There's so many quotes I wish I could share, but you'll just have to check out the book when it publishes on 12/3 :)
This is presented as a literary mixtape: an A side and a B side. A collection of short stories flip flopping between two seemingly unrelated/unconnected people. The way this story unfolds is truly unlike anything I've ever read before. I highly recommend!
November 23, 2024
Many thanks to Gallery Books and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of Only Stars Know the Meaning of Space by Rémy Ngamije. When I initially saw the title, I wondered what exactly a literary mixtape is. I miss the art of the mixtape. I used to love staying up late to make mixtapes, not only for myself, but for friends, crushes, girlfriends. Mixtapes were always a kind of musical artifact that not only reflected what I was listening to at the time, but also almost like a drug that could alter my emotions making me feel elated, nostalgic, or even getting me hyped up for something. I also thought that receiving mixtapes was one of the coolest gifts as well. I often learned about new bands, musical styles, and artists from mixtapes from friends. A girlfriend from college made me some mixtapes, and I still have emotional connections to some of the songs, and if one song from that mixtape comes on the radio or I hear it somewhere else, it takes me back in the day. Although Rémy Ngamije’s new book doesn’t really have much to do with music, his writing is lyrical and the chapters/entries into this book operate much like a mixtape, eliciting emotions and capturing different time periods from Cicero’s (the main character) life of nearly 30 years. These are the A-sides. The alternating chapters, or B-sides, feature different stories and narratives. And while they are not focused on the Cicero’s experiences or perspectives, many of the stories deal with similar themes of friendship (especially male friendship), family, education/school, art, and love. After reading the first few chapters, I was a little disappointed to see that there really wasn’t any kind of musical theme to any of the stories. Ngamije’s writing incorporates some references to music and rap, and some of the characters’ narration is lyrical and reflective of 90s-early 00s hip-hop braggadocio. Early on, I was even a little turned off by the perspectives of some of the characters towards women. With the A-sides, Cicero is reflecting on a past love, the seemingly ideal girlfriend who got away, while he has had other girlfriends who never seem to measure up to his past love. One of them, in “Black, Colored, and Blue (or, the Gangster’s Girlfriend)” is about his tryst with a Gangster’s girlfriend. Although Ngamije’s writing is lyrical, unique and creative, I didn’t really like this story too much. It seemed somewhat unrealistic that the Gangster’s girlfriend would date Cicero, who lived a kind of ascetic life in a small apartment. In other stories like “Yog’hurt (or Just Breathe)”, Cicero takes a kind of dismissive tone of his girlfriend’s interests, and although he takes a yoga class with her, his mind wanders to other women in the class. These kinds of stories made me dislike Cicero initially. I could almost understand why his girlfriend left him, but I didn’t understand why he continued to follow her on Instagram and pine for the old days. Other B-side stories like “The Giver of Nicknames” had a powerful message about justice (or lack thereof) and money, but I also struggled to understand the narrator’s inaction in the story and the consequences that result from his inaction. Maybe that was the point—it definitely made me uncomfortable, but thinking back now, the story has a powerful message. Somewhere after that story (I think it is with the next story “Little Brother (or, Three in the Morning)”), Cicero experiences a dramatic change in his life, and it’s like the mixtape songs grow up. He’s no longer listening to juvenile music, but is seeking out more meaningful and emotional music. I’m glad that I kept this mixtape playing, because the stories/chapters in the latter half of the book were a much better experience for me. We see Cicero experience change, whether that is just a natural part of maturity or due to the serious event in his life, Cicero’s narrative and perspective took a better turn and the stories were also more endearing and engaging. In this way, I can see how this book functions like a mixtape. There’s a variety of styles and perspectives, with an underlying theme dealing with relationships, emotions, growth, and maturity, and Cicero’s stories and experiences, both reflecting on and navigating through life, help to maintain these themes. The last few chapters are really great, so if you want to fast-forward this tape, definitely check out those tracks towards the end. However, I would also recommend rewinding the tape and going back to check out some of the B-sides and earlier tracks from Cicero’s life. Seeing the end and how he changed might give us a different kind of perspective on where he was earlier, still raw and angry from the break-up and other events in his life. It’s like listening to a old favorite at a new point in your life, when you might recognize some new instrument or have a different perspective on a lyric. Things change as we have more experiences and live more of life. Needless to say, I’m glad I let this tape play all the way through because Ngamije has a great, lyrical style, at times free-associating and name checking various interests, whether it’s poets, authors, artists, movies, or musicians. Really cool and unique. The one thing I wondered, though, is how different this book would be if it was really arranged like a mixtape with an A Side and B Side in order instead of alternating. I wonder if Cicero’s story would have a different flow to it or if there would be a different kind of unity to the B Side stories. Nevertheless, it is an interesting experiment with some other experimental approaches to narrative style. Recommended.
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January 24, 2025Not my usual genre or type of read but I'm glad I picked this up as part of a buddy read just for something different.
The Giver of Nicknames was a stand out story for me. As well as Crunchy Green Apples and Granddaughter of the Octopus
The Giver of Nicknames was a stand out story for me. As well as Crunchy Green Apples and Granddaughter of the Octopus
July 16, 2025
We were masters of all things group-y: group-think, group speech, group-walk, group-slouch, group exclusion.
Much later you will realize the crippling nature of this hypothetical gaze. But until then you will live in fear of it, and you shall act in accordance with its dictates.
Told through interconnected short stories, half the stories follow a writer about to turn 30, looking over his choices and the relationships that have shaped his life. The other stories- some following friends and family, some seemingly not connected to the writer at all- provide a wider picture of the writer’s community and the ways it may have influenced him.
We watch the narrator working through grief, isolation, and his struggle to break out of toxic patterns. And we see how the people around him are also battling these same issues. A few of these stories emotionally wrecked me, and I was not expecting that. Again and again, you see characters make decisions against their best interest in order to fit into the role they think they have to play. And how easy it is to go along with the group, even when you don’t agree. But we also see the ways it’s possible to break out of these expectations. This book really took me by surprise. I loved Ngamije’s writing, and look forward to picking up anything he releases.
The future of grief commences…I wait for the day when it turns to hope.
Thanks to Goodreads Giveaway for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Much later you will realize the crippling nature of this hypothetical gaze. But until then you will live in fear of it, and you shall act in accordance with its dictates.
Told through interconnected short stories, half the stories follow a writer about to turn 30, looking over his choices and the relationships that have shaped his life. The other stories- some following friends and family, some seemingly not connected to the writer at all- provide a wider picture of the writer’s community and the ways it may have influenced him.
We watch the narrator working through grief, isolation, and his struggle to break out of toxic patterns. And we see how the people around him are also battling these same issues. A few of these stories emotionally wrecked me, and I was not expecting that. Again and again, you see characters make decisions against their best interest in order to fit into the role they think they have to play. And how easy it is to go along with the group, even when you don’t agree. But we also see the ways it’s possible to break out of these expectations. This book really took me by surprise. I loved Ngamije’s writing, and look forward to picking up anything he releases.
The future of grief commences…I wait for the day when it turns to hope.
Thanks to Goodreads Giveaway for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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March 7, 2025"The memories do not respect your borders and steal across your lines in the early morning as you pour cereal into the bowl.... they ambush you." (p.25)
"Nothing in love can become air or simple biology, everything in love needs to become a craft. Presence, not mere attendance." (p. 92)
"And you miss the lesson: the possibility of improving upon one's shortcomings can only be done bit by bit, one slow and controlled pose after another." (p.97)
"Love has inside jokes which no longer tickle your ribs. Now the humor punches like a sour left hook." (p.110)
"In the great game of love, lust is last place, and the consolation prize for participation is loneliness." (p.195)
"I had reduced my grief to an occasional conversation seasoner, using it to deep-spice my shallow self into something tastier." (p.199)
"...I realized men are forever icebergs into which women are doomed to crash time and time again." (p.202)
"That is men for you. They see a cliff and they hunger to break their fall with the jagged rocks below." (p.234)
"Your anger's compass has the wrong north." (p.240)
"I should've known better; around the year mark is when sentimentality hits the hardest: the anniversary of all the could-haves, would-haves, and should-haves." (p.250)
"Nothing in love can become air or simple biology, everything in love needs to become a craft. Presence, not mere attendance." (p. 92)
"And you miss the lesson: the possibility of improving upon one's shortcomings can only be done bit by bit, one slow and controlled pose after another." (p.97)
"Love has inside jokes which no longer tickle your ribs. Now the humor punches like a sour left hook." (p.110)
"In the great game of love, lust is last place, and the consolation prize for participation is loneliness." (p.195)
"I had reduced my grief to an occasional conversation seasoner, using it to deep-spice my shallow self into something tastier." (p.199)
"...I realized men are forever icebergs into which women are doomed to crash time and time again." (p.202)
"That is men for you. They see a cliff and they hunger to break their fall with the jagged rocks below." (p.234)
"Your anger's compass has the wrong north." (p.240)
"I should've known better; around the year mark is when sentimentality hits the hardest: the anniversary of all the could-haves, would-haves, and should-haves." (p.250)
March 19, 2025
A collection of short stories and sketches that mostly trace the life of a writer (called Rambo) who is turning thirty, this is very much a young man's book - for better and for worse. The better is really good, though - the writing is confident, energetic, full of wordplay and you-either-get-it-or-you-don't pop culture references and similes; and when Ngamije writes about guilt and grief he's very powerful. Unfortunately, I rolled my eyes a lot at the young male writer writing about a young male writer's extraordinary sexual charisma and prowess. Women throw themselves at him, including two of his teachers who then get jealous of one another, a rich man's woman who is literally risking her life to get some of him, a sexy librarian, and a constant stream of nameless, lust-crazed women - it's a lot (and in stories from the POV of Rambo's friends and lovers, it's mostly about how cool, wise, and sexually adept he is - his greatest failing is that he's not living up to his massive potential). But when writer Rémy isn't focused on the phenomenal qualities of writer Rambo, his prose is so lively, fun, and surprisingly moving, it's fantastic.
I won a copy through a Goodreads giveaway.
I won a copy through a Goodreads giveaway.
December 26, 2024
This book was a revelation. I had not heard of the author before purchasing this book. I will certainly be investing more time and money reading Ngamije's other works. I suspect that I am not unusual, as a white American man, in being quite ignorant of what life is like in modern Africa. This collection of short stories gave me glimpses into some of Africa's multifaceted aspects. The author is equally adept and convincing at speaking in the voice of a man or of a woman. (At one point, I checked the author's bio to see if the author was a man or woman. ) Ngamije even writes a few of the stories in second-person; a technique which some writing coaches advise against because it is so difficult to do well. For Ngamije it feels smooth and natural. An outstanding work.
March 5, 2025
What a unique novel! The formatting style is creative and engaging.
To be honest, I had to really apply myself to not get lost in all the alternating plots and characters, but it gets easier after the first few chapters.
The author was able to show me things from a new lens, specific to the culture, while still making the characters personable. The journey with each person is captivating, heartbreaking, raw, funny, and sexy... I mean, quite a few graphic sexual descriptions. While that's not my thing, it did add to the rawness of the author’s story. So, all in all, to me this book was absolutely pleasurable.
Rarely do I enjoy a book so thoroughly, and I highly recommend it.
To be honest, I had to really apply myself to not get lost in all the alternating plots and characters, but it gets easier after the first few chapters.
The author was able to show me things from a new lens, specific to the culture, while still making the characters personable. The journey with each person is captivating, heartbreaking, raw, funny, and sexy... I mean, quite a few graphic sexual descriptions. While that's not my thing, it did add to the rawness of the author’s story. So, all in all, to me this book was absolutely pleasurable.
Rarely do I enjoy a book so thoroughly, and I highly recommend it.
November 13, 2025
Only Stars is a collection of short stories designed as “a literary mix tape”. It is set on the streets of Windhoek and like all good mixed tapes is laced with heartbreak, music, friendship and musings on love. I met Rémy for the first time earlier this year and was delighted to discover that he speaks as he writes: with intelligence, honesty and a fair amount of cool. To me, Rémy is the Namibian equivalent of Junot Díaz (The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao) and comes highly recommended. Read it.
Want to read
February 2, 2025‘There is no point in going back when forward is all you’ve ever known.’ (The poet)
…’He was, like everyone else, fighting this losing battle against life, but he did it with such verve. He swaggered away from defeats without suffering loss. He was generous with his victories. He loved me with passion, he loved me with constancy, he loved me because I loved him.’ “I was more,” I say, “and together we were the most.”
…’He was, like everyone else, fighting this losing battle against life, but he did it with such verve. He swaggered away from defeats without suffering loss. He was generous with his victories. He loved me with passion, he loved me with constancy, he loved me because I loved him.’ “I was more,” I say, “and together we were the most.”
December 13, 2024
Odds are you’ve never read a book like this one. I know I hadn’t.
Damaged narrators stumble into and out of relationships. Naïve romantics turn jaded in search of passion, and truth.
Familial relationships foil casual, lusty ones, which boil down to nothing. And we all emerge forlorn, but resolute that love is indeed possible. It’s just not effortless.
Damaged narrators stumble into and out of relationships. Naïve romantics turn jaded in search of passion, and truth.
Familial relationships foil casual, lusty ones, which boil down to nothing. And we all emerge forlorn, but resolute that love is indeed possible. It’s just not effortless.
December 23, 2024
I will always admire Rémy Ngamije’s ambition, even when it doesn’t work for me, as is the case here. This short story collection is split in two, with the “A-sides” following several major life events of a man approaching his thirtieth birthday and the “B-sides” complementing that central narrative while also standing more firmly on their own. I wanted less thematic and narrative redundancy in the “A-sides”, more engaging plots in the “B-sides” so there was something to cling to other than Ngamije’s structural experiments, and more thorough character development throughout so that I could root for this main character and the people around him more earnestly. I feel that an Ngamije several more years into his career could have pulled this project off more effectively; as it stands, the whole thing feels a bit underbaked.
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December 20, 2024Two series of short stories forefront the outer bravado and inner disconnect of the narrator and his friends in Namibia. The Five-O (Rambo, Rinzlo, Cicero, Lindo, and Franco) move through "toxic maleness" and try to leave the toxic behind, with varying results. I liked the contrast between city hustle and home-life tenderness.
January 7, 2025
A true literary mixtape. This is a stunning collection of short stories with the A side following an aspiring writer as he approaches 30 and the B side capturing the stories of a collection of increasingly interconnected characters. Beautifully written and thoughtfully crafted. If I had to choose a favorite story, “My Grandmother was an Octopus” is my pick. I love the raw and unapologetic feminine power. A great read.
January 14, 2025
I can only give my impressions on this one because I wasn't able to read it through to the end. It felt very fractured, frenetic and melancholy, and I felt that I was not the ideal reader for this book.
Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced reader's copy of this book, in exchange for my honest review.
Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced reader's copy of this book, in exchange for my honest review.
February 15, 2025
I'm going to make a bold prediction about something I don't really know a lot about- I think this book will get short listed for the Pultizer. I cite Oscar Wao, Goon Squad and Trust as my supporting points. The setup was so unique, like those winners, that I think it will get on the list. But we will see, it's only February.
dnf-meh
December 30, 2024Picked this up for book bingo and the “You” structure and POV got old real quick. I couldn’t see the point of it or what the narrative was building too. Felt like a character stripped of all emotion.
Stopping point: 20 mins (4%)
Stopping point: 20 mins (4%)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 5, 2025
The concept of this book drew me in. The chapters are labeled as either "side A" or "side B" and when read together form the story of an unnamed man about to turn 30 and his life, his friends, his community.
August 13, 2024
I enjoyed this collection and will digest stories and come back and reread
September 7, 2024
I received an ARC of this book, beautiful stories and great writing quality.
October 29, 2024
Un punto de vista nuevo e interesante para mi de un adulto joven de Namibia, me gustó el formato Side A y B, olvidé poner la playlist mientras lo leia (No se si aporta mucho)
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November 21, 2024I have tried - but cannot get into this book. Just not for me.
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