Career bucket lists; for some people it’s meeting the queen, or winning an award, or earning a lot of money. I’ve got to say, featuring in a Zapiro cartoon is very high on mine. Screw the queen (not Freddie Mercury and Brian May, the other one).
All the kudos to Karin Barry-McCormack for the killer, killer cover for Unpresidented. (Publishers, authors, if you want the best cover in the country contact her on Karin.barry@gmail.com)
And then of course there’s Zapiro.
Would it be taking it a step too far to have this tattooed on my back? Yeah, probably.
Here’s the blurb so you know what you’re in for:
When ex-president J Muza is released from prison on medical parole for an ingrown toenail, his expectations of a triumphant return to power and admiration are cruelly dashed. His once lavish Homestead is a rotting shell, his remaining wives have ganged up on him, the Guptas have blocked his number, and not even Robert Mugabe will take his calls any more. And he just can’t seem to get his plans for world domination off the ground.
Muza is banking on his memoirs full of fake news to pep up his profile, but his ghostwriter, a disgraced journalist, has problems and a tight deadline of his own. What Muza’s not banking on is a fat bill for outstanding rates on The Homestead, and a 30-day deadline to pay back the money, before the bailiffs arrive to evict him.
Is Muza a mastermind, or simply a puppet who fell into the wrong hands? Who is really playing who? What are his remaining wives up to, and will they stay or will they go? And how will he ever pay back the money? Can the ghostwriter make his deadline before he winds up dead? Or are both men destined to be homeless and loathed forever?