Zoo City (2010) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Summary edit see section history

Characters/People edit see section history

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• Zinzi December: The protagonist and narrator
• Benoit Bocanga: Zinzi's boyfriend
• Odi Huron: Famous music producer/manager who hires Zinzi to locate one of his clients
• S'bu Radebe: One of the twins that comprise the famous pop-star group called IJusi
• Songweza Radebe: One of the twins that comprise the famous pop-star group called IJusi
• Vuyo: A con-man and Zinzi's sometimes-employer
• Giovanni Conte: Zinzi's ex-boyfriend
• Mrs. Luthuli: Song & S'bu's guardian
• Amira, "the Marabou": An employee of Odi Huron, animalled with a stork
• Mark, "the Maltese": An employee of Odi Huron, animalled with a dog

Quotes edit see section history

• “In Zoo City, it's impolite to ask.”

  Narrator

• Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers

• When you eat, you are eating things from planes. The plastic forks, they leave a mark on you.

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• Traffic in Joburg is like the democratic process. Every time you think it's going to get moving and take you somewhere, you hit another jam.

  Highlighted by 13 Kindle customers

• • Steering by the Golden Compass: Pullman's fantasy in the context of the ontological shift (2005)

  Highlighted by 12 Kindle customers

• The tectonic plates of whatever we were have shifted out from under us – call it contextual drift. Mind the gap.

  Highlighted by 11 Kindle customers

• The genuinely powerful, unlike the Vuyos of this world, don't give a fuck about making an impression.

  Highlighted by 10 Kindle customers

• 'Nzambe aza na zamba te. God is not in the forest. Maybe He is too busy looking after sports teams or worrying about teenagers having sex before marriage. I think they take up a lot of His time.'

  Highlighted by 9 Kindle customers

• 'The most potent weapon of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed'.

  Highlighted by 9 Kindle customers

• he's pouting like he ordered strippers for his birthday and got clowns instead.

  Highlighted by 7 Kindle customers

• Vuyo insists on meeting me at Kaldi's coffee shop in Newtown, the funkified art, theatre, design and fashion capital of the inner city. They burned this neighbourhood down in the early 1900s to prevent the spread of bubonic plague, and it occurs to me that they should consider doing it again, to purge the blight of well-meaning hipsters desperately trying to paint it rainbow. I should really try to be less cynical.

  Highlighted by 6 Kindle customers

• I haven't driven in three years and the car handles like a shopping trolley on Rohypnol.

  Highlighted by 6 Kindle customers

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Johannesburg
• South Africa

First Sentence edit see section history

Glossary edit see section history

• mashavi: "a Southern african word (spec. Shona) used to describe both the preternatural talents conferred by an aposymbiot and the aposymbiot animal itself" -Chapter 19

Series & Lists edit see section history

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Lauren Beukes (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• Arthur C. Clarke Award (April 2011, #1)
• BSFA (British Science Fiction Association) (Finalist, 2010)
• The Kitschies (2010: The Red Tentacle for Best Novel, 1st)
• James Tiptree, Jr. Award (Finalist, 2011, Long Listed)

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
• Dewey: 813

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction › Contemporary