CATALYST PRESS
CHAOS IN KINSHASA
ISBN 9781946395986 | paperback | $19.99 | Feb 2024
A Harlem gangster’s trip to Central Africa to attend the legendary 1974 Ali-Foreman “Rumble in the Jungle” boxing match becomes a one-way ticket to the seedy underground of Zaire—complete with espionage, murder, and a communist plot to overthrow Zaire’s infamous President Mobutu.
When Ernest, a low-level gangster from Harlem, wins tickets to travel to Zaire to attend the “Rumble in the Jungle,” the now-legendary bout between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, he’s eager to reconnect with his African roots and escape the ruthless gang leaders he’s indebted to back home.
But in Zaire, Ernest becomes entangled in an Angolan coup against the country’s embattled president Mobutu Sese Seko—inspired by Che Guevara himself—and soon realizes that Zaire may hold even more dangers for him than Harlem ever could.
A Cold-War-era thriller set against the backdrop of a landmark moment in sports history, Chaos in Kinshasa feat rly Baruti’s characteristic art and Thierry Bellefroid’s punchy dialogue woven in with the elements of a great gangster story—sex, spies, bribes, and murder. A thrill ride through a pivotal moment in Cold War, African, and sports history.
Translated from the French by Ivanka Hahnenberger
REVIEWS
“His characters are realistic and feature vivid expressions, almost photographic in capturing the strong emotions of the moment. [A] new classic of Cold War espionage and social maneuvers. -Blog Critics
"[B]rilliant illustrations and a riveting storyline. Highly recommended!" -Michelle Sikes, Professor of Kinesiology, African Studies, and History
Author Thierry Bellefroid works for the Belgian television company, RTB, where he presents every week Sous Couverture, the RTBF literary magazine which he created after setting up, directing and presenting Mille-Feuilles from 2004 to June 2011, then Livrés à Domicile from 2011 to 2019. He has been the anchor of RTBF’s Le Journal 13H00 for six years. Since September 2009 he has focused solely on book and comic book news. From 2007 to 2020, Thierry Bellefroid was also a guest lecturer at the School of Journalism of Louvain at UCLouvain, where he taught television journalism there in Master 1, mentoring journalism students in comics reporting. He has published three novels, a collection of short stories and a digital novel.
AUTHOR THIERRY BELLEFROID
Baruti Kandolo Lilela, better known by his pen name Barly Baruti, is a renowned Congolese cartoonist. He was born in 1959 in Kisangani into a family of painters. After studying pedagogy, Baruti worked at French cultural centers in Kisangani and Kinshasa, where he produced his first comic work, an environmental comic titled Le temps d’agir. He has been described by the BBC as “the Congolese author best known outside his country.” Baruti is the co-founder of the Atelier de Création et de l’Initiation à l’Art (Creative Workshop for an Initiation to Art) to encourage talented youth in Kinshasa. He has lived in France and Belgium, where he apprenticed with several renowned comic artists. He currently lives in Kinshasa.
ILLUSTRATOR BARLY BARUTI
Ivanka Hahnenberger is a Franco-American citizen who has led an international career in business management, finance, film, television and digital production. Ivanka started her professional career as an investment-banking analyst. From there she became a production accountant, working on commercials then feature films with a specialty in special effects and animation. She became an associate producer and eventually a producer for international film and television productions and co-productions, primarily in animation. Then, in 2003, she co-founded Roving Stage Productions, a production and consulting company focusing on mobile and new media content, which she still manages. In 2007 she bought a brand licensing company VIP which she transformed into VIP BRANDS a comics agency, translation and consulting company. As an agency they represent world English rights for German, French and African comics publishers. As a consultancy they organize world comics events. Hahnenberger translates comics, children’s books, catalogs, business proposals marketing plans and much more from French and German into English. She has translated Blue is the Warmest Colour by Julie Maroh and An Olympic Dream by Reinhard Kleist, amongst other books as well as Nudge theory white papers and several catalogs. She holds a Master’s degree in International Development with a specialization in Intellectual Property. She has lived in over ten different cities.
TRANSLATOR IVANKA HAHNENBERGER
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