Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    The Beggars' Signwriters
    Unavailable
    The Beggars' Signwriters
    Unavailable
    The Beggars' Signwriters
    Ebook250 pages4 hours

    The Beggars' Signwriters

    By Louis Greenberg

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    The Beggars' Signwriters, Louis Greenberg’s debut novel published in 2006, was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and the University of Johannesburg Prize. It displays many of the features that run through his subsequent work: a keen sense of place, sensitive characterisation, a fascination with creative lifestyles and expression, the ethics and aesthetics of takeaway burgers, and the effect of technology on freedom – all along with a slight warping of accepted reality that become hallmarks in S.L. Grey’s Downside series and Greenberg’s novels like Green Valley.
    Set in Johannesburg, London and the Karoo desert, The Beggars’ Signwriters is inspired by anthology films like Robert Altman’s Short Cuts and Paul Auster’s wandering flaneurs. The interconnected strands curl their way along the visceral formative sexual and creative paths of several characters: Lyon and Tania, two teenagers learning to love, and artists Renée, Shane and Aden, who repeatedly strike violently creative sparks off each other.

    Praise for The Beggars’ Signwriters:

    The Beggars’ Signwriters was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and the University of Johannesburg debut prize in 2007.

    “Greenberg has written a novel which reminded me of how soothing good writing can be.” – Janet van Eeden, The Witness

    “Finely observed, touching, funny, and so beautifully written.” – Jassy Mackenzie, author of Random Violence

    “The Beggars’ Signwriters has a fascinating architecture. Louis uncovers people’s foibles and failings with great tenderness and insight.” – Liesl Jobson, BooksLive

    “It’s heady stuff, insightfully narrated, that looks at the nature of art and the existential drama of just being alive.” – Northcliff & Melville Times

    “Greenberg’s writing is both delicate and controlled, his observations astute and his eye for emotional detail fine.” – Gwen Podbrey, Jewish Reporter

    “Greenberg se skryftalent blyk duidelik uit sy debuut.” – Salome Snyman, Rapport

    “His novel draws the reader in with its detailed descriptions, recognisably South African situations and characters, and warm narrative.”– People

    “Greenberg’s writing is insightful, the descriptions are vivid and he provides substantial depth. In many instances his characterisation is superb” – Trish Murphy, Sunday Independent

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLouis Greenberg
    Release dateSep 21, 2018
    ISBN9780463360736
    Unavailable
    The Beggars' Signwriters
    Author

    Louis Greenberg

    Louis Greenberg is a renowned writer in his own right, having been shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers Prize for his debut novel The Beggars' Signwriters (Umuzi, 2007), but is perhaps more known for his work with Sarah Lotz as one half of internationally bestselling S.L. Grey. Green Valley was his first solo novel to be published outside his native South Africa. He is currently based in England.

    Related to The Beggars' Signwriters

    Related ebooks

    Literary Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Reach

      Apr 10, 2021

      Jack Benson stands dissolved in an ocean of strangers, humans he couldn’t have known existed until forced to jostle with them for space and share odors. He recoils imperceptibly with each touch, eager not to offend or stand out any further. As a mass

      10 min read

    • Article

      Reach

      Dec 10, 2023

      Jack Benson stands dissolved in an ocean of strangers, humans he couldn’t have known existed until forced to jostle with them for space and shared odors. He recoils imperceptibly with each touch, eager not to offend or stand out any further. As a mas

      10 min read

    • Article

      Quick On The Draw

      Nov 23, 2023

      Quick On The Draw
      5 min read

    • Article

      Sticking the Landing

      Oct 10, 2022

      Many of my students and clients spend years working on a debut novel, only to discover that to get a literary agent’s attention they need to publish something—maybe a few short stories in literary magazines. But writing a great (or even publishable)

      10 min read

    • Article

      A Change Of Scene

      Apr 3, 2022

      A Change Of Scene
      9 min read

    • Article

      Everything Happens SOMEWHERE

      Jun 15, 2020

      Everything, even thought, takes place somewhere. When remembering ordinary happenings and previous conversations, most people automatically recall where they took place and at what time. If not, they may ponder, “Now, where was I?” For more important

      8 min read

    • Article

      Book Club

      Aug 18, 2021

      Book Club
      5 min read

    • Article

      To The Manure Born

      Jun 1, 2020

      To The Manure Born
      5 min read

    • Article

      Emil, Approximated

      Nov 3, 2022

      Emil, Approximated
      15 min read

    • Article

      Mental Guru

      Oct 7, 2020

      Mental Guru
      1 min read

    • Article

      Prime: She had to possess the secret code.

      Oct 24, 2013

      He had removed the number where he lived, prying off the digits with a simple kitchen knife he got from room service. B-something…523? Numbers were a kind of theology for him, so he was bothered at first they weren’t a more auspicious 001 or 600, at

      12 min read

    • Article

      On Setting and Craft

      Nov 8, 2017

      It’s not that I find character and plot and structure unimportant. It’s that, for me, they’re deeply intertwined with place. The post On Setting and Craft appeared first on The Millions.

      6 min read

    • Article

      The Juggler’s Wife

      Jun 9, 2020

      The situation in itself is not unique. There was a man who hated his job and wanted a new one. There was a man who was sick of his boring job and wanted an exciting job instead. This man was depressed, but he saw a way out. He thought this way out wa

      24 min read

    • Article

      Table Talk

      Jun 1, 2021

      Table Talk
      6 min read

    • Article

      Table Talk

      Dec 1, 2023

      Table Talk
      8 min read

    • Article

      Books

      Feb 14, 2022

      Would it be wrong to proclaim poetry to be the queerest form of literature? If one were to line up every facet of writing that makes up ‘literature’ along the Kinsey scale, surely ‘poetry’ would score quite high, given that so many of its pioneers –

      5 min read

    • Article

      Crime Wave

      May 10, 2019

      Crime Wave
      13 min read

    • Article

      The Everyday Horror of ‘Other Minds and Other Stories’

      Feb 7, 2024

      In someone else’s hands, these stories might be little more than typeset urban legends, the stuff of 2000s-era AOL email chains, but Sims renders them as something both terrifying and mesmerizing. The post The Everyday Horror of ‘Other Minds and Othe

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Plague Legends

      Dec 1, 2021

      The Plague Legends
      12 min read

    Reviews for The Beggars' Signwriters

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words