{"product_id":"9781776391240","title":"Son of a Whore: A Memoir","description":"\u003cp\u003eAfter the runaway success of his Afrikaans memoir,  Hoerkind,  the contrarian journalist and writer Herman Lategan translated and updated his eventful life story to include material that did not appear in the original book.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eHerman was conceived illegitimately one warm February night in 1964 in a boarding house in Cape Town. From an early age, he felt disposable, passed from one pair of unstable adult hands to the next, even ending up in an orphanage for a while.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eAt thirteen he was caught in the web of a cunning paedophile, a well-known Afrikaans newspaperman. Shortly after his eighteenth birthday, when his abuser had finished with him, Herman was unceremoniously dumped at the door of his alcoholic father. Conscription into the army and a dishonourable discharge followed.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eDuring his teenage years, Herman befriended poets like Sheila Cussons, Tatamkhulu Afrika and Casper Schmidt, and later, in New York, he followed Andy Warhol in the street and partied with a ‘smorgasbord of social butterflies’.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eBack in South Africa, Herman established himself as a journalist, but struggled with alcohol and drug addiction, and was homeless for a while. For many an employer, he became the nightmare they feared most.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eSon of a Whore is a gripping account of loss, hardship and overcoming both; it will make you laugh and, at times, break your heart. You will despair at the cruelty of a world in which the marginalised are forsaken, but stand in awe at the extent of the goodness surrounding us, because, ultimately, people depend on each other.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"book-contributors\"\u003e\n  \u003cp class=\"contributor-item\"\u003e\n    \u003cspan class=\"contributor-role\"\u003eAuthor\u003c\/span\u003e\n    \u003ca href=\"\/search?q=Author+Herman+Lategan\" class=\"contributor-link\"\u003eHerman Lategan\u003c\/a\u003e\n  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Herman Lategan","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47381127823523,"sku":"9781776391240","price":320.0,"currency_code":"ZAR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0741\/7836\/3555\/files\/img_9781776391240_0891de96-7058-4a35-92e3-4c844e2eb877.jpg?v=1776584688","url":"https:\/\/graffitibooks.co.za\/products\/9781776391240","provider":"Graffiti Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}