I know, after being alerted to www.shaunoakes.com, that Shaun is Cape Town's favourite son. After JZ, that is. Zuma. Legend in a shower cap. But another favourite son has to be Ben Trovato. I always like reading his column in the Cape Times, but because he is not always published on the same day, I never know when exactly to buy the paper and I don't buy it every day because murder and the like are not my preferred reading matter.
But Ben is a class act. I have written on him before, but since I bought someone his latest book "Hits and missives: The worst of Ben Trovato" I have been in touch again with how good he is. Some of you won't get the humour, and you may have to read a couple of his columns to gain insight into how the great man works. Like many writers, he seems to write under a pseudonym. Look him up in the telephone directory and he will not be found. No photos exist of his face. He always has a hat covering part of his face. He is like the great enigma, a puzzling being. He is also under rated.
After he finished his back page articles for GQ last year, no one likes him. Barmen hate him, Tom Cruise despises him, Tony Yengeni hates him, everyone does. I don't though, I think he brings a certain something to his writing that sets him apart. All his stories are clearly made up, but they are great. It's worth a read. Even better are his books where he writes letters to various people, often with a monetary gift enclosed(Always R10) Classy.
To read his latest column, and many more, link here: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=2904
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3 comments:
Might I suggest a visit to http://www.ballacorkish.net/6000/707.html ?
Ha! Brilliant! It's good to see some people enjoying his work, and his humour. He is the only one who can write on wife beating and get away with it. I read the comments on that site's post on Ben Trovato and some people think he is serious about the wife beating saying "Wife beating is very much discouraged in Mexico" and "Can't believe you support and joke about violence against women. Disgusting." It's a certain humour he possesses, and yes, wife beating is not exactly the type of thing anyone of us will ever do, but Trovato just makes the most absurd statements, that you must laugh. Maybe it's South African humour? But then comedians like Chris Rock do the same type of humour. I'm not quite sure.
Oh, wait, I see! That's your site, ballacorkish! Cool, good to see you enjoy Ben Trovato as well. Good times
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