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Only Stars Know the Meaning of Space: A Literary Mixtape by Rémy Ngamije - 3* - My Review

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.