{"product_id":"the-mad-9780820376936","title":"The Mad","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eThe Mad\u003c\/i\u003e, originally published in Shona as \u003ci\u003eMapenzi \u003c\/i\u003eand awarded the Zimbabwe Book Publishers Association Award, Mabasa's pen runs riot, using sarcasm, humor, and a disjointed writing style that gels with its troubled and unpredictable characters. Set in the second decade of Zimbabwe's independence, the novel paints a vivid portrait of poverty, violence, dehumanization, and postcolonial dislocation. It doesn't shy away from painful truths, instead laying bare the realities of marginalized communities in Zimbabwe and exploring madness, dreams, strife, and a search for something that seems elusive. Evocative of the hustle and bustle in the lives and minds of many Zimbabweans during this period, the story reeks with the experience of people struggling to survive poverty, violence, disintegration, fear, coloniality, and dejection. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eStructured in a way that echoes oral performance, with dramatic monologues, dialogue-driven exposition, and moral ambiguity that swim in a pool of decolonial language politics, \u003ci\u003eThe Mad \u003c\/i\u003eis not only a milestone in Zimbabwean literature but a powerful African literary work that redefines what the modern African novel can be. It uniquely contributes to the broader conversation around how African societies manage cultural continuity and rupture in the face of colonial legacies, poverty, and globalization. It is no surprise, then, that \u003ci\u003eThe Mad \u003c\/i\u003ehas been awarded the Zimbabwe Book Publishers Association Award and that \u003ci\u003eThe Times Literary Supplement \u003c\/i\u003ehas called \u003ci\u003eThe Mad \u003c\/i\u003e\"one of the most significant books to have come out of Africa.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Georgia Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/01\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780820376936\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 158\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.41lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.02h x 5.34w x 0.49d","brand":"Ignatius T. Mabasa","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52360443101365,"sku":"9780820376936","price":16.96,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_253fae0d-3e43-4a8b-963e-21be53e01bb6.jpg?v=1773720970","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/the-mad-9780820376936","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}