'My life proper started at the age of 5, when my mother had her nervous breakdown' This novel is peppered with simple yet biting realisations such as this Beginning in the harsh world of a South African boarding school, it charts the life of Peekay The author mixes the brutal reality of political and social divisions in South Africa with legends of great poignancy and beauty This book also portrays one man's education by the world, and the varied people who inhabit it