Flat/White: The Strange Case of a New Immigrant in an Old Building and Things Going Badly
A dirty, grimy, graffiti-stained tenement popular with a group of local drug dealers is where the author found a cheap apartment when he first moved to New York City. By sheer luck, he was also able to buy the place the following year for a ridiculously small amount of money. What seemed like a great opportunity quickly descended into a world of chaos, lies, suspicion, police raids and death threats. In equal parts memoir, comedy and tragedy – not to mention a travelogue about the city the author found himself in – Flat/White brings to life the residents of a building – some crazy or despicable, others wonderful or secretive – and a side of New York you will rarely see. It’s a story you won’t believe is true – but it is. Nonfiction, Memoir, New York, Architecture
““It’s a delightful book … Part memoir, part travelogue, part comedy, with occasional forays into US spelling, this book is something of a love story, with rats. I enjoyed it hugely.” ”
““Botha’s book describes a New York that exists way beyond the usual tourist haunts. An acute observer with an eye for the illuminating social detail, his rueful account of his attempts to negotiate the obstacles and fathom foreign ways is consistently amusing and occasionally profound.”
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““A beautiful heartfelt memoir of life in a hidden city.” ”
““It’s the story of a foreigner, an expat trying to fit in abroad, and failing.””
