Tom Solemn – A Biography – The Anatomy of a Death by Matthias Stockenström (Signed)

Tom Solemn: A Biography – The Anatomy of a Death by Matthias Stockenström is an unusual and thought-provoking South African novel that explores mortality, storytelling, chance and the search for meaning. Published by Quickfox Publishing in Cape Town in 2023, this is the first edition paperback and is signed by Matthias Stockenström on the title page, making it a particularly appealing copy for collectors of contemporary South African literature and signed books.

Despite its deliberately biographical-sounding title, Tom Solemn is a work of fiction. Stockenström approaches his subject with a philosophical and unconventional style, using the life and death suggested by the title as a framework through which broader questions about existence, belief, coincidence and narrative can be examined. The book’s own provocative presentation asks questions surrounding the nature of God’s death, the birth of storytelling, luck and happy chance, signalling a novel concerned as much with ideas as with conventional narrative.

Stockenström grew up on a farm in the northern reaches of South Africa, south of the Botswana border, and later lived and worked as a novelist in Cape Town. This South African background gives Tom Solemn additional regional interest.

The striking monochrome cover featuring a meerkat, together with the enigmatic subtitle The Anatomy of a Death, gives the publication a distinctive identity. As a signed first edition from a smaller South African publisher, this copy has additional interest beyond that of a standard reading copy.

Condition – Fine / Like New

Fine / Like New 2023 paperback. The covers are bright and clean with minimal evidence of handling, while the binding and contents remain exceptionally well preserved. Signed by Matthias Stockenström on the title page.