Is It Just Me Or Is Everything Still Kak? By Tim Richman And Grant Schreiber

Is It Just Me Or Is Everything Still Kak? By Tim Richman And Grant Schreiber
A brainwavez.org Literary Review

by Mandy J Watson
Posted: 8 June 2009

Just how kak is South Africa? Well, ask any citizen about his or her particular issues and you're likely to hear that it's all pretty kak. To combat the problem South African authors Tim Richman and Grant Schreiber keep publishing new books that tackle kakness. Why? Because South Africans don't know how to fix anything but at least they can buy a book, have a laugh, and keep a local publishing company afloat during the recession. Or something. It's all so kak, who can keep track?

Is It Just Me Or Is Everything Still Kak? by Tim Richman And Grant Schreiber

Before I jump into this review, I need to add a little disclaimer. I have been immortalised (well, politely thanked) in the acknowledgments section of Is It Just Me Or Is Everything Still Kak? as one of the people who contributed ideas and feedback to it (due, primarily, to topics - including non-voters, Tom Cruise, and The Coconuts - that came out of the conversation I had with co-author Tim Richman last year when I interviewed him for brainwavez.org regarding the first book in the series). I had no idea that any of the ideas had been used or that I had been officially thanked until the book had already gone to print. While I am most appreciative (and, yes, I think it's pretty cool!), it has not influenced my opinion in this review.

Additionally, if you are not that familiar with South Africa and don't know what "kak" means I suggest you read the interview first, as Tim Richman defines it quite eloquently. Well, as eloquently as one can, really.

After the success of the first book, Is It Just Me Or Is Everything Kak? The Whinger's Guide To South Africa From AA To JZ, which is a bit of a mouthful to say, the authors quickly set about working on a sequel, with a slightly shorter title (Is It Just Me Or Is Everything Still Kak? 2Kak 2Furious) and more irreverent humour that slaughters the occasional sacred cow as it taps into the contemporary South African Zeitgeist.

The 2009 Cape Town Book Fair
Two Dogs publishing won't be exhibiting at the 2009 Cape Town Book Fair but it will be hosting two presentations entitled The Art Of Irreverent Publishing, where Tim Richman and Grant Schreiber will be appearing and will make themselves available to sign books and answer questions. The presentations are not listed on the official printed schedule but you can find them on the more-up-to-date web-site schedule and they will be listed on the fair's official noticeboard:

Saturday 13 June 2009
14:00 to 14:45, Room 1.41:
The Art Of Irreverent Publishing: Ndumiso Ngcobo will discuss his hit books Some Of My Best Friends Are White: Subversive Thoughts From An Urban Zulu Warrior and Is It Coz I'm Black?, and Tim Richman will discuss the Is It Just Me Or Is Everything Kak? titles.

Sunday 14 June 2009
12:00 to 12:45, Room 1.62:
The Art Of Irreverent Publishing: Ndumiso Ngcobo will discuss his hit books Some Of My Best Friends Are White: Subversive Thoughts From An Urban Zulu Warrior and Is It Coz I'm Black?, and Tim Richman will discuss the Is It Just Me Or Is Everything Kak? titles.

On The Internet: Cape Town Book Fair

The Never-Ending Celebrity-Chef Phenomenon
Lisping scooter queen Jamie Oliver isn't even the worst of them. If a guy is born with inherent antisocial behavioural problems, he becomes a chef so that he can shout at people. If he doesn't have his ingredients neatly pre-measured into precious little glass bowls, he has a row of herbs growing in pots from which he rips bunches of leaves to fling into his consommé, or his jus, or some other thing that basically means "sauce". Watch him chip-chop the cucumber like a ninja in a pouffy white hat. See him flamboyantly toss bits of badger flesh around in a pan. Hear him explain, "And we're going to keep the seasoning simple, to really bring out the flavour of the meat," casually splitting an infinitive and adding 12 simple spices plus the simple liver juice of four breeds of quail. Then he'll fashion a small tower on a big plate, take a bite and report to the camera, "Mmm... Delicious!"

And if he's not on my television set - I'm watching BBC Lifestyle, for crying in a bucket! Is there nothing else on? - he's at my table in the restaurant. Now, instead of your food appearing through the kitchen swing doors for you to eat, the chef comes too, taking it upon himself to share the secret of his special jus (translate: sauce) with you while his hands perform a spastic little dance in slow motion and you're expected to gaze at your plate with misty eyes. Shut up! I'm hungry, I want to eat! Go and speak to that table of old ladies over there. I'm sure they'll love the attention.

While restaurant names have all but disappeared in some circles, with people whispering in wonderment about the chef as if he is the restaurant, some of us still prefer our food without the melodrama, thanks very much. I'm a fan of the guy in the restaurant down the road from me. His name's Lennox and he makes a fantastic toasted egg-and-bacon sandwich - without any fuss. Anyone want to give him a show?

Xenon Headlights
They're so frikking clever that they can invent headlights to map the road and look around corners, but they can't design the damn things to not burn out my retina every time a BMW 650 comes speeding up my arse. Who buys a 650 anyway?

-- Excerpts From Is It Just Me Or Is Everything Still Kak?

It's a worthy successor to the first volume - in fact, dare I say that it's better in many respects, most notably the topics that are covered. The first volume was weighed down a little by some of the subject matter it had to cover - all the topics you would expect to find in a book such as this, many of which are quite taxing subjects to read about, even in a humourous publication (yet you would be irritated if they weren't included). This book is lighter, and funnier for it. With most of the heavy topics out of the way some of the less soul destroying, yet equally frustrating, irritations in life have been given their moment in the spotlight. The result is a fun sequel with humour that has more punch and, in some ways, is more in tune with South Africans' daily experiences and irritations, rather than being a focus on the overbearing political nightmares and scandals to which we are subjected every day in the newspapers and on TV.

The first book also has a bit of a "we must pack everything we can think of into this" feel to it, whereas the second is more relaxed (and while the page count is the same as the first the font size is actually bigger, so that's awesome for you if you have bad eyes but kak if you're into value-for-money equations having to do with word density and retail cost-per-letter calculations).

One thing I didn't like so much about the sequel is that there is a lot of cross referencing both within its own entries and to entries in the previous book, as well as the occasional footnote appended to some of the entries... in a tiny, tiny font. While interesting (in terms of the content of the footnotes) and a great reminder of how - frustratingly - everything kak is interconnected, the cross references do get a little tedious at times as it's distracting, both to the topic being covered and the rhythm that's critical to the humour*.

Thankfully this is my only gripe. The subjects that are covered are diverse and appealing and it's definitely not a rehashing of the first book. In some ways this is an unfortunate indictment of the level of kak we experience in South Africa but at least we can laugh about it.

I hope there will be a third book (in fact, my hope is actually that the series will continue indefinitely as it is a wonderful way to document, chronologically, some of the bizarre things that happen in this country). South Africa is a magical place filled with the weirdest drama, insanity, and the kind of kak that one can only laugh off and then write a book about.

The two volumes both make excellent gifts and the content is also accessible for foreigners who want to understand South African culture better - even if they do not specifically understand all the references - but, of course, the books are especially suitable for any mildly irritable South African (over the age of 18, due to some of the content) and - let's face it - that's all of us.

*And I say this as one who frequently does exactly the same thing on my blog.

Is It Just Me Or Is Everything Still Kak?, by Tim Richman and Grant Schreiber, is available locally in South Africa in good bookstores nationwide, or you can order it online through Kalahari.net, which ships internationally.