About the Book
In the powerful travel-writing tradition of Ryszard Kapuscinski and V.S. Naipaul, a haunting memoir of a dangerous and disorienting year of self-discovery in one of the world's unhappiest countries.
About the Author :
ANJAN SUNDARAM is an award-winning journalist who has reported from Africa and the Middle East for "The New York Times" and the Associated Press. His writing has also appeared in "Foreign Policy," "Fortune," "The Washington Post," the "Los Angeles Times," the "Chicago Tribune," "The Telegraph," "The Guardian," the "International Herald Tribune," and the "Huffington Post." He has been interviewed by the BBC World Service and Radio France Internationale for his analysis of the conflict in Congo. He received a Reuters journalism award in 2006 for his reporting on Pygmy tribes in Congo's rain forest. He currently lives in Kigali, Rwanda, with his wife.
Review :
Praise for "Stringer"
"A remarkable book about the lives of people in Congo."
Jon Stewart, The Daily Show
"This is a book about a young journalist's coming of age, and a wonderful book it is, too."
Ted Koppel, NPR
"An excellent debut book of reportage on the Congo ."
Fareed Zakaria, CNN
"Books by journalists usually keep the focus outward, but Sundaram has more of a novelist's interior sensibility and a talent for describing anxiety and ennui. Readers may be tempted to compare him to Conrad and Naipaul, but he has a strong, unique style all his own."
"Kirkus Reviews
"
"Excerpts from his notebooks chronicle personal reflections as he struggles to learn how to report from an unruly land, harboring doubts and misgivings and a feverish desperation to make sense of one of the deadliest places in the world. [It's]a breathtaking look at a troubled nation exploited by greedy forces within and without."
"Booklist
"
"The author skillfully captures the smallest details of life in a destitute land, blending the sordid history of Congo with his battle to forge a career in a troubled and forsaken country."
"Publishers Weekly
"
"The authenticity is palpable."
"Library Journal
" Anjan Sundaram s prose is so luscious, whether he s writing about mathematics or colonial architecture or getting mugged, that the words come alive and practically dance on the page. "Stringer," his first book, is about a year-long journey to Congo; reading it made me feel like I d follow him anywhere in the world.
Barbara Demick, author of "Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea" and "Logavina Street: Life and Death in a Sarajevo Neighborhood"
What a debut! It's not often one reads a book of reportage from a difficult foreign country with such fever-dream immediacy, such tense intelligence, and such an artful gift for story-telling. Here is a commanding new writer who comes to us with the honesty, the intensity, and the discerning curiosity of the young Naipaul.
Pico Iyer, author of "The Lady and the Monk, The Global Soul, "and" The Man Within My Head"
In lucid and searing prose, and with bracing self-awareness, Anjan Sundaram explores a country that has long been victimized by the ever-renewed greeds of the modern world. "Stringer" is one of those very rare books of journalism that transcend their genre and destiny as ephemera and become literature.
Pankaj Mishra, author of "From the Ruins of Empire "and "Temptations of the West"
"With an incisive intellect and senses peeled raw, Sundaram takes us on a mesmerizing journey through the vibrant shambles of modern Congo. This is that rare work of reportage that achieves true literary greatness, and it can stand proudly next to V.S. Naipaul or Ryszard Kapuscinski."
Richard Grant, author of"God's Middle Finger
"
"Stringer" is an extraordinary work of reportage. Anjan Sundaram is the Indian successor to Kapuscinski.
Basharat Peer, author of "Curfewed Night
"
"A fascinating, breathtaking work of reporting and introspection from a writer whose next work will be eagerly awaited.
" Time Out Mumbai""
Praise for "Stringer"
"This is a book about a young journalist's coming of age, and a wonderful book it is, too."
--Ted Koppel, NPR
"An excellent debut book of reportage on the Congo."
--Fareed Zakaria, CNN
"Books by journalists usually keep the focus outward, but Sundaram has more of a novelist's interior sensibility and a talent for describing anxiety and ennui. Readers may be tempted to compare him to Conrad and Naipaul, but he has a strong, unique style all his own."
--"Kirkus Reviews
"
"Excerpts from his notebooks chronicle personal reflections as he struggles to learn how to report from an unruly land, harboring doubts and misgivings and a feverish desperation to make sense of one of the deadliest places in the world. [It's] a breathtaking look at a troubled nation exploited by greedy forces within and without."
--"Booklist
"
"The author skillfully captures the smallest details of life in a destitute land, blending the sordid history of Congo with his battle to forge a career in a troubled and forsaken country."
--"Publishers Weekly
"
"The authenticity is palpable."
--"Library Journal
""Anjan Sundaram's prose is so luscious, whether he's writing about mathematics or colonial architecture or getting mugged, that the words come alive and practically dance on the page. "Stringer," his first book, about a year-long journey to Congo; reading it made me feel like I'd follow him anywhere in the world."
--Barbara Demick, author of "Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea" and "Logavina Street: Life and Death in a Sarajevo Neighborhood"
"What a debut! It's not often one reads a book of reportage from a difficult foreign country with such fever-dream immediacy, such tense intelligence, and such an artful gift for story-telling. Here is a commanding new writer who comes to us with the honesty, the intensity, and the discerning curiosity of the young Naipaul."
--Pico Iyer, authora
Praise for "Stringer"
"Books by journalists usually keep the focus outward, but Sundaram has more of a novelist's interior sensibility and a talent for describing anxiety and ennui. Readers may be tempted to compare him to Conrad and Naipaul, but he has a strong, unique style all his own."
--"Kirkus Reviews
"
"Excerpts from his notebooks chronicle personal reflections as he struggles to learn how to report from an unruly land, harboring doubts and misgivings and a feverish desperation to make sense of one of the deadliest places in the world. [It's] a breathtaking look at a troubled nation exploited by greedy forces within and without."
--"Booklist
"
"Anjan Sundaram's prose is so luscious, whether he's writing about mathematics or colonial architecture or getting mugged, that the words come alive and practically dance on the page. "Stringer," his first book, about a year-long journey to Congo; reading it made me feel like I'd follow him anywhere in the world."
--Barbara Demick, author of "Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea" and "Logavina Street: Life and Death in a Sarajevo Neighborhood"
"What a debut! It's not often one reads a book of reportage from a difficult foreign country with such fever-dream immediacy, such tense intelligence, and such an artful gift for story-telling. Here is a commanding new writer who comes to us with the honesty, the intensity, and the discerning curiosity of the young Naipaul."
--Pico Iyer, author of "The Lady and the Monk, The Global Soul, "and" The Man Within My Head "
"In lucid and searing prose, and with bracing self-awareness, Anjan Sundaram explores a country that has long been victimized by the ever-renewed greeds of the modern world. "Stringer" is one of those very rare books of journalism that transcend their genre--and destiny as ephemera--and become literature."
--Pankaj Mishra, author of "From the Ruins of Empire "and "Temptations of the West"
""Stringer"
Advance Praise for "Stringer"
"Anjan Sundaram's prose is so luscious, whether he's writing about mathematics or colonial architecture or getting mugged, that the words come alive and practically dance on the page. "Stringer," his first book, about a year-long journey to Congo; reading it made me feel like I'd follow him anywhere in the world."
--Barbara Demick, author of "Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea" and "Logavina Street: Life and Death in a Sarajevo Neighborhood"
"What a debut! It's not often one reads a book of reportage from a difficult foreign country with such fever-dream immediacy, such tense intelligence, and such an artful gift for story-telling. Here is a commanding new writer who comes to us with the honesty, the intensity, and the discerning curiosity of the young Naipaul."
--Pico Iyer, author of "The Lady and the Monk, The Global Soul, "and" The Man Within My Head "
"In lucid and searing prose, and with bracing self-awareness, Anjan Sundaram explores a country that has long been victimized by the ever-renewed greeds of the modern world. "Stringer" is one of those very rare books of journalism that transcend their genre--and destiny as ephemera--and become literature."
--Pankaj Mishra, author of "From the Ruins of Empire "and "Temptations of the West"
""Stringer" is an extraordinary work of reportage. Anjan Sundaram is the Indian successor to Kapuscinski."
--Basharat Peer, author of "Curfewed Night
"
"Journalism is a risky endeavor at the best of times. Being a stringer takes that risk and amplifies it. But Anjan Sundaram, who quit a career in mathematics in his desire to "see a crisis" and who arrived in Congo with few contacts and little idea of how the country (or the journalism business) worked, had yet to find that out. Over the course of a year and a half, he learns things the hard way: how to navigate through the financial worries that arrive when the payments don't, to make peace
Advance Praise for "Stringer"
"What a debut! It's not often one reads a book of reportage from a difficult foreign country with such fever-dream immediacy, such tense intelligence, and such an artful gift for story-telling. Here is a commanding new writer who comes to us with the honesty, the intensity, and the discerning curiosity of the young Naipaul."
--Pico Iyer, author of "The Lady and the Monk, The Global Soul, "and" The Man Within My Head "
"In lucid and searing prose, and with bracing self-awareness, Anjan Sundaram explores a country that has long been victimized by the ever-renewed greeds of the modern world. "Stringer" is one of those very rare books of journalism that transcend their genre--and destiny as ephemera--and become literature."
--Pankaj Mishra, author of "From the Ruins of Empire "and "Temptations of the West"
""Stringer" is an extraordinary work of reportage. Anjan Sundaram is the Indian successor to Kapuscinski."
--Basharat Peer, author of "Curfewed Night
"
"Journalism is a risky endeavor at the best of times. Being a stringer takes that risk and amplifies it. But Anjan Sundaram, who quit a career in mathematics in his desire to "see a crisis" and who arrived in Congo with few contacts and little idea of how the country (or the journalism business) worked, had yet to find that out. Over the course of a year and a half, he learns things the hard way: how to navigate through the financial worries that arrive when the payments don't, to make peace with the loneliness that surrounds you when editors you've worked for for years send their star reporters to cover big stories leaving you high and dry, and to keep alive that quest for that next story, that next byline, that next adventure.
Eventually, Sundaram finds the crisis that he's so eager to see and amasses a few of those big bylines, but not before he's been mugged at gunpoint, been sick to the bone with malaria, and been witn
