Pure Men

“Magnificently translated by Vergnaud…Sarr’s tale presents a blistering critique of homophobia in contemporary Senegal…Sarr’s prose is philosophical, sardonic, witty but most of all, exquisite…Sarr’s characters exude vitality…A heart-wrenching examination of what it means to be an authentic man in patriarchal modern Africa.” —Booklist (starred review)“Sarr offers a bold challenge to Senegalese norms…Readers will be left with much to ponder.” —Publishers WeeklyPraise for The Most Secret Memory of Men:A rollicking literary mystery…an aerobatic feat of narrative invention, whirling between noir, fairy tale, satire, and archival fiction in its self-reflexive meditation on the nature of literary legend…propulsive.” —The New Yorker“[The Most Secret Memory of Men] travels through space and time, from contemporary Paris to postwar Argentina to a Senegalese village. Besides the main narrator, a collection of voices complement one another to form an overall story, as one of the novel’s main goals is to put different realities and traditions ‘on the same level.’” —New York Times

Mohamed Mbougar Sarr was born in Dakar in 1990. He studied literature and philosophy at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris. His first novel, Brotherhood, won the Grand Prix du Roman Métis, the Prix Ahmadou Kourouma, and the French Voices Grand Prize. The president of Senegal named him a Chevalier of the National Order of Merit. He won the 2021 Goncourt Prize for his novel The Most Secret Memory of Men (Other Press, 2023), becoming the first sub-Saharan African to do so.

Lara Vergnaud is a translator of prose, creative nonfiction, and scholarly works from the French. She is the recipient of two PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grants and a French Voices Grand Prize, and has been nominated for the National Translation Award. She lives in Washington, DC.

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