Book Recommendation: Buckingham Palace

So, last week I talked about the District Six Museum and how a colleague gave me a copy of a book all about that lost neighborhood.  The book fueled my curiosity and gave an almost "insider's" understanding of the museum.

So I felt I had to talk about it:  "Buckingham Palace" by Richard Rive:

I really -- but really -- recommend this book.  It is so vibrantly written that you hear, feel, see, smell District Six around you.

It deals beautifully with the mix of the ugly -- poverty, prostitution and racism -- and the beautiful -- family, food, music and traditions.

As I walked around the museum, I could imagine Pretty-Boy and Zoot ambling down the street, hear the jazz records of the Jungle Brothers, and smell the pastries made by Mary and the Girls. 

In fact, I just about squealed when I saw this:

And as I read the book, I kept wondering, what the heck is "koeksister?"  And right there in the museum was an embroidered family recipe for them!  (By the way, they are a a very typical South African pastry, a syrup-soaked donut.)

And look what was on the back mural:

The book is very much what I imagine District Six was -- both gorgeous and heartbreaking.

Happy Friday kids!