The Gospel Dance

J. M. Coetzee is a singular case. Born in South Africa, he grew up there and has dilated on his childhood near Cape Town and on his uncle’s farm in several autobiographical works. He won expansive praise for his early novels philosophizing on racial intolerance in his native country, then got the cold shoulder from the African National Congress for (it was alleged) sustaining racial stereotypes. When he won the Nobel Prize, the ANC hastened to reclaim him—by which time he had moved to Australia.