David Diop was born in Paris and was raised in Senegal. He is the head of the Arts, Languages, and Literature Department at the University of Pau, where his research includes such topics as eighteenth-century French literature and European representations of Africa in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. His second novel, At Night All Blood Is Black, was awarded the International Booker Prize and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for fiction.
Anna Moschovakis's books of poetry include the James Laughlin Award-winning You and Three Others Are Approaching a Lake and a novel, Eleanor, or, The Rejection of the Progress of Love. Her translations from the French include Albert Cossery's The Jokers, Annie Ernaux's The Possession, and Bresson on Bresson.
"Beguiling . . . Diop realizes the full nature of war--that theater
of macabre and violent drama--on the page. He takes his character
into the depths of hell and lets him thrive there . . . As violent
and disturbing as these encounters are, they are rendered with such
artistic grace that one derives a strange pleasure in reading about
even the bloodiest of nights." --Chigozie Obioma, The New York
Times Book Review "Astonishingly good." --Lily Meyer, NPR
"Harrowing . . . [At Night All Blood Is Black] confronts the
historical image of Black soldiers by stretching barbarism to its
ironic limits . . . What seems most pointed in Diop's novel is its
exploration of what it meant for West African men to fight side by
side, and to grieve one another." --Emmanuel Iduma, The New York
Review of Books "Powerfully original . . . Unflinching in its
exploration of the madness war can induce, Diop's novella is a
remarkable piece of writing." --Nick Rennison, The Times (London)
"The International Booker prize winner is a brilliant, shifting
tale . . . [At Night All Blood Is Black] rewards rereading, which
recasts the violent opening chapters in a new, even darker light .
. . Quite unlike anything else." --John Self, The Observer "As in
many of the best novels of active combat . . . Diop accentuates
tragedy with bitter irony . . . There is great beauty here. Diop's
sentences have a tidal quality, carrying in phrases worn smooth
with repetition." --Jessi Jezewska Stevens, Foreign Policy "[David
Diop] conveys the overwhelming impact of wartime trauma on a
bewildered young man in lyrical language, translated by [Anna]
Moschovakis into rhythmic and dynamic English prose." --The
Economist "A stunning new novel about the plight of two Senegalese
soldiers in the Great War offers a fresh perspective. It also
introduces a singular talent . . . An immersive, propulsive read,
one that searingly evokes the terrors of trench warfare, the
relentless loss of life, and the irreparable damage inflicted on
the human soul . . . Employing language that is, by turn, visceral
and lyrical, Diop tells a devastating story of loss and inhumanity
while enlarging our understanding of the war to end all wars."
--Malcolm Forbes, Star Tribune "Heartbreaking and poetic . . . [At
Night All Blood Is Black] addresses a story woefully absent from
French history books - the inner life of African troops who fought
in the French trenches in the first world war." --Angelique
Chrisafis, The Guardian "Spare and devastating, At Night All Blood
Is Black by French Senegalese author David Diop is a bone-chilling
anti-war treatise . . . Resonates far beyond the geographic,
political, racial and historical details . . . Diop has an ideal
translator in Anna Moschovakis, who renders his prose into a
gorgeously disturbing devolution of humanity. Overlapping
bildungsroman, fever dream, morality tale and historical record,
Diop creates an outstandingly affecting, genre-defying nightmare."
--Shelf Awareness (starred review) "One could recommend this
novella by its name alone. Fortunately, what its evocative and
ominous title hints at--a dark story told in lyrical prose--is more
than delivered on in David Diop's rhythmic, enchanting fiction
(expertly translated from the French by Anna Moschovakis) . . .
More than anything [Diop] shows just how slippery the self can be
when individuals are placed within extraordinary, violent
circumstances." --The A.V. Club "With elegant brevity, Diop
presents a world with no firm dividing line between courage and
madness, murder and warfare; the most dedicated killers are awarded
the Croix de Guerre. Alfa's final transformation, as he attempts to
atone for his guilt over the death of his friend, is unexpected,
poetic -- and chilling." --Suzi Feay, The Spectator "Diop's short
but emotionally packed second novel illuminates an underreported
chapter in French and Senegalese history. Part folklore, part
existential howl, and part prose poem, it is a heartbreaking
account of pointless suffering . . . A searing, eye-opening tale of
innocence destroyed." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "Musical .
. . Harrowing . . . The novel veers toward a transcendent ending .
. . Diop's second novel is scalding, mesmerizing, and troubling in
the best way. Highly recommended." --Library Journal (starred
review) "[A] harrowing, nimbly translated English-language debut .
. . Diop is sure to earn readers with this feverish exercise in
psychological horror." --Publishers Weekly "An extraordinary novel,
full of sadness, rage and beauty." --Sarah Waters, author of The
Little Stranger "David Diop's All Blood is Black at Night is an
unrelenting take on war, race, masculinity, and colonialism. Most
of all, Diop's short, sharp, and serrated novel is a visceral
dramatization of how our humanity and inhumanity are forever
intertwined." --Viet Thanh Nguyen, Pulitzer Prize winner and author
of The Sympathizer "David Diop's At Night All Blood Is Black is a
particularly pertinent reflection on the evils of war, as well as a
profound exploration of the human soul." --J.M.G. Le Clézio, winner
of the Nobel Prize in Literature
"This novel is a wonder. Written in a simple, almost naive, yet
astonishing style, it speaks of the tragedy of the trenches with a
moving delicacy. This is no war novel, but a book on what Montaigne
called 'the solder of brotherhood.'" --Tahar Ben Jelloun, Le Point
"David Diop here erects a beautiful monument to the Senegalese
riflemen, and seeks to restore their African dimension; to listen
to them, to understand them." --Mathias Énard, Le Monde
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