Waiting for the Barbarians

by Coetzee, J.M. (Author); Conn, Chris (Jacket Illustrator)

• ISBN13: 9780143116929
• ISBN10: 0143116924
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-06-29
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)

Summary

For decades the Magistrate has been a loyal servant of the Empire, running the affairs of a tiny frontier settlement and ignoring the impending war with the barbarians. When interrogation experts arrive, however, he witnesses the Empire's cruel and unjust treatment of prisoners of war. Jolted into sympathy for their victims, he commits a quixotic act of rebellion that brands him an enemy of the state.

A modern classic, this early novel by Nobel Laureate J. M. Coetzee centers on the crisis of conscience and morality of the Magistrate-a loyal servant of the Empire working in a tiny frontier town, doing his best to ignore an inevitable war with the "barbarians."

Author Biography

J.M. Coetzee is the author of numerous works, including Disgrace, Slow Man, and Diary of a Bad Year. He is the recipient of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature and a two-time Man Booker Prize winner

Chris Conn was born in Hollywood, California in 1970 and was a celebrated tattoo artist for sixteen years. He is now a successful illustrator and painter based out of San Francisco.