In a South Africa torn by civil war, Michael K sets out to take his mother back to her rural home. On the way there she dies, leaving him alone in an anarchic world of brutal roving armies. Imprisoned, Michael is unable to bear confinement and escapes, determined to live with dignity. Life and Times of Michael K goes to the centre of human experience - the need for an interior, spiritual life, for some connections to the world in which we live, and for purity of vision. "A strong and memorable novel" Guardian "It strikes deep inside the heart...The story is clean, clear, straight, the work of a mature imagination at full power...here is a book that will be celebrated for a long time" Mail on Sunday "This is a trule astonishing novel... I finished Life & Times of Michael K in a state of elation, for all the misery and suffering it contains. I cannot recommend it highly enough" Evening Standard "Beautifully written in a strong, plain, unpretentious style...distinguished by grim humour and powerful understatement" Sunday Express "The quality of Coetzee's writing lies in his inner vision: dark, passionately compassionate, concerned with the nature of man" Financial Times