“Sometimes we encounter men, even entire families, whose gross ignorance, unappealing mien or reckless habits make us wonder how their genes have survived the trials and tribulations of the ages. Yet we do well to remember that, should the world be plunged into nuclear holocaust, the principal candidate for survival is neither man, nor the great elephant, nor the swift stallion, nor the wily fox – it is the lowly cockroach.” – Bernard Ancieux, La Fin, 1976

A war correspondent sets out from Amsterdam to South Africa to piece together the fragmented history of Ace and Rem, two brothers from South Africa. Their bizarre and disturbing scrapbook recounts a suspenseful tale of trauma and heartbreak that crosses two continents and leaves a trail of shattered lives in its wake.

Six Fang Marks and a Tetanus Shot is a superb, multi-layered novel that investigates the eviscerating effect that intense trauma can have on a young boy’s mind. The characterization is heart-wrenching, while the brothers’ engrossing story is explored with a deft expressiveness that is sonorous, humorous  and deeply moving. This groundbreaking novel is a definite must-read for 2007.

"We call someone who trips, bumps, scrapes, and bleeds through a life of injury as “accident prone”, and that’s the subject of Richard de Nooy’s finely crafted novel, peppered with visceral and black humour. De Nooy relates the tragi-comedy of two brothers raised in South Africa, one of whom is accident prone and becomes increasingly impervious to the pain and suffering, both his own and that of others, he leaves in his calamitous wake as he crash-tackles his way through life." - Mike Chandler, Daily Dispatch
 

Richard de Nooy (1965) grew up in Johannesburg, but has lived in Amsterdam for the past 20 years. He managed to postpone his writing career by studying Journalism at Rhodes University (South Africa) and Psychology at the University of Amsterdam. He went on to procrastinate as a bouncer, cartoonist, translator, editor and copywriter, but remained a closet novelist throughout. De Nooy is deeply intrigued by the quirks and foibles of humanity, but does not necessarily wish to experience them at close quarters. He loves people, but wants to be left the hell alone.

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