Tram 83

Praise For Fiston Mwanza Mujila &
Tram 83

·
   
Winner of a
FRENCH VOICES AWARD
from the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the US, 2014

“
Tram 83
isn't for the faint of heart, but rather, it's for those that have a sense of humor, an interest in seedy underbellies, and a willingness to, at times, feel a little lost in the haze of biblical imagery, flippant debauchery, free sex, and anarchy. Ezra Pound would be proud; Mujila ‘made it new.'”

—
JOSH COOK
,
Foreword Reviews

“Talk about verve — and
vivre
: Fiston Mwanza Mujila's
Tram 83
introduces a rousing, remarkable new voice to this world, surely in its original French, most definitely in Roland Glasser's superb translation. This book has drive and force and movement, it has hops and chops. It has voices!”

—
RICK SIMONSON, ELLIOTT BAY BOOK COMPANY (SEATTLE, WA)

“I was totally into the wild formal thug-haunted adventurousness of
Tram 83
.”

—
FORREST GANDER
, author of
The Trace

“
Blade Runner
in Africa with a John Coltrane soundtrack.”

—
MARK HABER, BRAZOS BOOKSTORE (HOUSTON, TX)

“Through observation and conversation, the reader is exposed to the economic boom and cultural bust of contemporary Africa in search of what the future holds for human relationships and survival in a place where tradition and personal histories are quickly being swept under the rug by global forces. Mujila captures chaos in a hypnotic free-jazz rhythm that is so rarely found in novels of this scope.”

—
KEVIN ELLIOTT, 57TH STREET BOOKS (CHICAGO, IL)

“
Tram 83
is part
Satantango
, part
Fitzcarraldo
, and part
Blood Meridian.
A dark, funny, and true accomplishment.”

—
CHAD FELIX, WORD BOOKSTORES (BROOKLYN, NY & JERSEY CITY, NJ)

“
Q
: What if Césaire beat Houellebecq at his own game? A:
Tram 83
.”

—
DUSTIN KURTZ

“
Tram 83
reads like a modern, twisted
The Great Gatsby
. …An unaffected view of humanity that is at once repulsive, hilarious, and oddly uplifting. …The novel, like the nightclub, is eccentric and somewhat disturbing, yet inclusive and universally appealing.”

—
CAITLIN THOMAS
,
Three Percent

More international praise for Fiston Mwanza Mujila &
Tram 83

·
   
Winner of the
GRAND PRIX SGDL DU PREMIER ROMAN
(
for Debut Novel
),
2014

·
   
Shortlisted for the
PRIX DU MONDE
(
Le Monde Literary Prize
)
, 2014

·
   
Shortlisted for the
PRIX WEPLER-FONDATION LA POSTE
,
2014

·
   
LITERARY PRIZE OF THE CITY OF GRAZ
,
Austria, 2014

·
   
GOLDEN MEDAL IN LITERATURE
of the VI Jeux de la Francophonie in Beirut

“A real discovery among this season's novels.”

— author
ALAIN MABANCKOU
,
Jeune Afrique

“One of the more exciting discoveries of the fall … Frenetic, flamboyant, and intense, there are touches of Hieronymus Bosch. An insolent, globe-trotting Bosch, who would have read Gabriel García Márquez and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.”

— Le Monde

“Invigorating and astounding, the linguistic creativity of Fiston Mwanza Mujila's writing paints a vivid picture of an imaginary Africa.”

— Le Populaire du Centre

“A debut novel with a vertiginous rhythm. Picaresque poetry turned into music by a mix of slam and a series of loops and turns as bewitching as a sustained jazz melody.”

— Livres Hebdo

“
Tram 83
is a high-speed trip, a tragic, burlesque, melancholic, melodic tale.”

— LIRE Magazine

“Watch out for this blazing comet!
Tram 83
will sweep you off your feet like a Coltrane number, and never put you down again.”

— Rolling Stone
(France)

“Mujila has invented “locomotive literature,” and the genre of the “stage-tale,” making his debut novel the manifesto for a convulsive poetic prose, a cross between Aimé Césaire and Boris Vian.”

— Le Nouvel Observateur

“A novel of mind-blowing, poetic beauty.”

— Point Magazine

“This debut novel heralds a promising literary career.”

— Notre Afrik

Deep Vellum Publishing

2919 Commerce St. #159, Dallas, Texas 75226

deepvellum.org
·
@deepvellum

Deep Vellum Publishing is a 501c3 nonprofit literary arts organization founded in 2013.

Copyright © 2014 by Fiston Mwanza Mujila

By agreement with the Pontas Literary & Film Agency.

Originally published in French as
Tram 83
by Editions Métailié in Paris, France in 2014

English translation copyright © 2015 by Roland Glasser

Foreword copyright © 2015 by Alain Mabanckou

First edition, 2015

All rights reserved.

ISBN
: 978-1-941920-05-3 (ebook)

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CONTROL NUMBER
: 2015935847

—

Cet ouvrage a bénéficié du soutien des Programmes d'aide à la publication de l'Institut Français.

This work, published as part of a program of aid for publication, received support from the Institut Français.

French Voices Logo designed by Serge Bloch

This work, published as part of a program providing publication assistance, received financial support from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States, and FACE (French American Cultural Exchange).

—

Cover design & typesetting by Anna Zylicz ·
annazylicz.com

Text set in Bembo, a typeface modeled on typefaces cut by Francesco Griffo for Aldo Manuzio's printing of
De Aetna
in 1495 in Venice.

Distributed by Consortium Book Sales & Distribution.

You will eat by the sweat of your breasts

Contents

Foreword

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

FOREWORD

BY ALAIN MABANCKOU

I was fortunate enough to get to read some of Fiston Mwanza Mujila's poetry a few years back. I didn't know at the time that he was busy writing a novel, or for that matter the degree to which I would be moved by his new work and how each page would bring me so much joy. When I turned the last page, I exclaimed: “This is a masterpiece!”

Fiston Mwanza Mujila took the French literary scene by storm in 2014. His native Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), one of the most populated countries in Africa, had been waiting for some time for a great novelist to come along, a novelist who was truly one of theirs, speaking their language. Fiston has met their expectations.

Tram 83
is written with the kind of magic one finds in only the best of storytellers, an astute observer of everyday life and a genuine philosopher. His words bring to life the city of Lubumbashi, filled with a cast of characters, writers, drunkards, drug dealers, dreamers, lost souls, all living side by side in the popular
neighborhoods in which all of life's pleasures are traded. And then there's also the “trashy side” of life, the drugs and the vodka, a glimpse at the underbelly of life that is so rarely featured in sub-Saharan African literature, a world far from the images on the postcards sold to tourists. Fiston's novel has lifted the veil Africa has been compelled to wear over the years, and she now stands naked before us. His voice is original, a genuine breath of fresh air, and we will surely be following this exciting new voice in the years to come. I can hardly believe
Tram 83
is a first novel … So much creativity, linguistic innovation, and such a pleasure to read!