People in the reviews are right that the second part is weird and kind of boring, frankly, but the first part is so phenomenally done that I can't give this anything less than 4 stars. I would like to read more from Mabanckou now, and am happy to have read this after a long time of wanting to and actually starting and not finishing it a while ago. The beginning is just fantastic. The parts with Bonaventure/Kokolo are just the best, and I think the beloved childhood friendship adds to how funny it is sometimes. "This particular warden, who we secretly referrrred to as the 'Australopithecus', looked like an ancient chameleon, with his crooked back and eyes that pointed out left and right, without him moving his head." That's awesome.