The Big Stick – Links, Reviews & Interviews
The Big Stick is now available in South African bookstores. This page gives an overview of links to useful information, reviews and interviews.
Readers outside South Africa can order The Big Stick via the Jacana Media website or by sending a message to lanore@jacana.co.za.
You can read an excerpt from The Big Stick here.
LAUNCHES ————————–
Johannesburg – A report on the launch of The Big Stick at Love Books in Melville, where I was interviewed by Ndumiso Ngcobo.
Cape Town – A report on the launch of The Big Stick at the Book Lounge in Cape Town, where I was interviewed by Lauren Beukes.
REVIEWS ————————–
A selection of excerpts from reviews that appeared in the South African and Dutch media. You will find the latest at the top of the list.
[Newest]
“De Nooy, in my circles, would be branded homophobic. I still don’t know if he treats the subjects of homosexuality with respect. All I know is that he writes well and got me reading even when Alma was tracing Staal’s steps in the seedy world of flesh on flesh male sex where gay porn was the staple.” More… (Don Makatile on Africa Book Club)
[Newer]
“The Big Stick certainly is compact, but its characters ring true and its darkly humorous approach undercuts what could have become a barrage of overwhelmingly depressing scenes of the underbelly of the city. It manages to encompass a number of overarching and important ideas about difference and acceptance without being flippant or obvious – an achievement for any writer.” More… (Inter-review with Tymon Smith on TimesLIVE)
[New]
“The Big Stick is as irreverent, cheeky and compulsively readable as a novel about estrangement, exile, isolation and loss can be. De Nooy’s study of queer power relations, embodied experiences and male intimacy is sensitive, filled to the brim with an exuberance of voice, and boasts a mesmerising confidence in the feel for dialogue and relationships.” More… (Jonathan Amid on LitNet)
[New]
“De Nooy is an unashamed rule breaker. There are stereotypes, multiple viewpoints, a mix of interviews, narratives and personal reminiscences, but every broken rule enhances and entertains.” More… (Isabella Morris in the Sunday Independent)
[New]
“Like a bon-bon layered from dark, bitter chocolate and sweetly nutty bits, the interwoven tales of Staal — the moffie with “the big stick” who was exiled from Zeerust to the gay heaven of the Netherlands in the eighties — will have you devouring the pages like so many Ferrero Rochers.” More… (Alwyn Viljoen in The Witness)
[New]
“The story brims over with laughter. Two homoerotic donkeys star in a Herman Charles Bosman-esque short story, and Alma and son’s grammar (“I beg yours?”) is rendered with exquisite tenderness.” More… (Ruth Browne in The Cape Times)
“It’s heeee-fucking-larious and right up my alley. I loved it. It’s dark and funny.” More… (Paige Nick on her blog.)
“De Nooy is the type of writer who can convey more feeling in a tweet (#walk) than other writers could in an entire chapter. If you were fortunate enough to have read De Nooy’s debut – Six Fang Marks and a Tetanus Shot – you’ll know exactly what we’re talking about. If not, shame. The good news is that there’s a follow up book and it doesn’t disappoint.” More… (Dylan Muhlenberg in Men’s Health)
“De Nooy has an ear for dialogue which not only renders the text almost audible, but pumps his crystal clear, acutely and empathetically observed characters full of humanity. He builds tension subtly and constucts his story with tender care. I found the novel so moving, so humane and so compulsive that I could not settle to any other novel.” More in English…
(Karin Schimke in the Cape Times and on Books LIVE)
“De Nooy’s debut is beautiful, as is his second book, The Big Stick. His style is raw and macho, as well as – almost – hypersensitive.”
(Ivo Weyel in Esquire)
“The Big Stick is a book that leaves you with a feeling of gratitude, moved, uplifted, and jealous that there are so few books of this standard about lesbians.” More in Dutch…
(Connie van Gils op ILHIA.nl)
“De Nooy is a brilliant storyteller, who blends humour and tragedy in a heart-wrenching manner. […] The story is compelling and moving, skilfully composed and poignantly rendered.”
More in Dutch…
(Cees van der Pluijm (NBD/Biblion) op bol.com)
“De Nooy brilliantly evokes two worlds: the harsh reality of South Africa and the ‘gay is beautiful’ mentality of 1980s Amsterdam, which proves to be equally fraught with violence. Staal is lost between these two worlds – and drowns.”
More in Dutch…
(Toef Jaeger in NRC Handelsblad)
“What De Nooy expresses most beautifully, is that people hide behind their prejudices. His novel is populated by a truly diverse cast of characters: from a police detective and an airline steward to gay hairdressers and a coke dealer. They all find their way into the reader’s heart.”
More in Dutch…
(Marjolein Paalvast op LiterairNederland.nl)
“Overwhelming, impressive, refreshing, surprising.”
More in Dutch…
(Pimm van Hest in Gay Krant)
“The Big Stick is one of those novels you can’t put down once you’ve started: compelling, moving, to be read in a single sitting. The portrait of 1980s Amsterdam takes you on a nostalgic trip back to those days, and the author sketches the pink couleur locale with great refinement, replete with acerbic gay wit, nicknames and juicy wordplay.”
More in Dutch…
(Kristiaan Schimmel op gay.blog.nl)
“De Nooy’s style is raw and rock-hard, as well as poetic and at times hilarious.”
More in Dutch…
(Sonja de Jong in various regional newspapers)
INTERVIEWS ————————–
Interview by Coen Peppelenbos in Tzum literary magazine (Dutch)
Interview by Annemarié van Niekerk on Litnet (Afrikaans)
Inter-review by Janet van Eeden on Litnet (English)
