It is rare that a story comes along that sweeps you into its heart. Painstakingly handwritten over a three year period, it is the life story of William Zulu, a linocut artist, highly acclaimed for his evocative art-works. Having contracted spinal TB as a baby, William underwent misplaced corrective surgery to his spine in his late teens which left him paralysed and permanently wheelchair bound. William's story is no victim's litany. It recounts with zest and humour the events of his life, his unfolding artistic development and the world of deep rural Africa in which he is rooted. His artist's eye paints in the details of his world with vivid observation. This book is full of disarming lapses, diverting anecdotes - such as how he acquired a car in order to travel to Jo'burg in the hope of finding there a woman who might be more willing to love someone disabled. Weaving through the personal narrative is a strong political consciousnesss that sketches the fortunes of a country in violent transition, wracked by the ethnic rivalries that overshadowed every aspect of black life in the 1980s. William Zulu's writing is informed and articulate. He has an instinctive grasp of storytelling