The Number: One Man's Search for Identity in the Cape Underworld and Prison Gangs
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In front of him lay the prospect of a law-abiding future, and life in a household of ten adults and eight children, none of whom earned a living. Author Jonny Steinberg met Wentzel in prison in 2002. By the time of Wentzel's release, he and Steinberg had spent more than 50 hours discussing his life experiences. The Number is an account of their conversations and of Steinberg's journeys to the places and people of Wentzel's past.
He had lived a bewilderingly schizophrenic life, wandering to and fro between three worlds: the arcane universe of prison gangs, steeped in a mythology of banditry and retribution, where he was known as JR; the margins of South Africa's criminal economy, where he lived by a string of stolen names and learnt the arts of commercial fraud; and his scattered family, which eked out a living in the coloured ghettos of the Cape Flats. The Number visits each of those worlds in turn. It is a tale of modern South Africa's historic events seen through the eyes of the country's most marginal citizens. Surprisingly, perhaps, it is neither a story of passivity nor despair, but of beguiling ingenuity and cool cynicism.
Most of all, the book is an account of memory and identity, of Wentzel's project to make some sense of his bewildering past and something worthy of his future. When Steinberg met him, Wentzel was embarking on a quest to retrieve the name he had been given at birth. He was also beginning the daunting task of gathering together the estranged children he had sired into a nuclear family. It was an eccentric and painful venture for a man with his past, but it has led him to construct an account of himself that begs to be told.
| Author | Jonny Steinberg |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Jonathan Ball Publishers |
| Place | Johannesburg |
| Year | 2005 |
| ISBN | 9781868422333 |
| Binding | Paperback |
| Condition | Fair |
| Comments | Some edgewear; indications of folds on covers; name scratched our with black marker on first free page; covered in clear sticky plastic; neat and clean inside. |
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New: Exactly as it says.
As New: Pretty much new but shows small signs of having been read; inside it will be clean without any inscriptions or stamps; might contain a remainder mark.
Very Good: Might have some creases on the spine; no hard cracks; maybe slight forward lean and short inscription inside; perhaps very minor bumping on the corners of the book; inside clean but the page edges might be slightly yellowed.
Good: A few creases on the spine, perhaps a forward lean, bumping on corners or shelfwear; maybe an inscription inside or some shelfwear or a small tear or two on the dustjacket; inside clean but page edges might be somewhat yellowed.
Fair: In overall good condition, might have a severe forward lean to the spine, an inscription, bumping to corners; one or two folds on the covers and yellowed pages; in exceptional cases these books might contain some library stamps and stickers or have neat sticky tape which was used to fix a short, closed tear.
Poor: We rarely sell poor condition books, unless the books are in demand and difficult to find in a better condition. Poor condition books are still perfect for a good read, all pages will be intact and none threatening to fall out; most probably a reading copy only.