A review by casparb
Black Mamba Boy by Nadifa Mohamed

A pleasant read, in spite of the endless horror. Mohamed has a rocky start - she seems a little terminologically overenthusiastic in the opening, which is not unjustifiable. It's an unfamiliar environment for British readers, which she appears to be considering here. But it did come across a little sloppy, stylistically, though Mohamed seemed to shed that self-consciousness in the course of the narrative and things became much more comfortable to read, though again, gore and so on.

Slightly disturbed by the vague whisper of Deleuze and Guattari here. I really promise I'm not making this up. It's slight but it certainly appears to be something she's at least aware of - we are introduced to the Italian 'war machine', the downfall of which is a lack of speed, fortification rather than nomadism (the nomad characters I shall accept as pure accuracy). Elsewhere, Jama complains of the fascistic tendency toward striation, rather than the smooth (the sun's natural flows).

I don't know where the lines between fiction and biography break down, but it is a hell of a tale. I'd say that it's structured kind of wonkily, and that the pacing really goes through loops but if that's accurate to the life story of her father then is that really her problem? (no)