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  • The Selfless Act of Breathing

  • By: JJ Bola
  • Narrated by: Oseloka Obi
  • Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (19 ratings)
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The Selfless Act of Breathing

By: JJ Bola
Narrated by: Oseloka Obi
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Summary

A heartbreaking, lyrical story for all of those who have fantasised about escaping their daily lives and starting over.

Michael Kabongo is a British Congolese teacher living in London on the cusp of two identities. On paper, he seems to have it all - he's loved by his students, popular with his colleagues and enjoys the pride of his mother who emigrated from the Congo. But behind closed doors, he's been struggling with the overwhelming sense that he can't improve the injustices he sees - from his efforts to change the lives of his students, to his attempts to transcend the violence that marginalises young Black men around the world.

Then Michael suffers a devastating loss, and his life is thrown into a tailspin. As he struggles to find a way forward, memories of his fathers' violent death, the weight of being a refugee and an increasing sense of dread threaten everything he's worked so hard to achieve.

Longing to escape the shadows in his mind and start anew, Michael decides to spontaneously pack up and go to America, the mythical 'land of the free', where he imagines everything will be better, easier - a place where he can become someone new, someone without a past filled with pain. On this transformative journey, Michael travels from New York City to San Francisco, partying with new friends, sparking fleeting romances and splurging on big adventures.

In the back of his mind, Michael has a plan: follow his dreams until the money in his bank account runs out, and then he will decide if his life is truly worth living....

Written in spellbinding prose, with Bola's trademark, magnetic storytelling, The Selfless Act of Breathing is a heart-wrenching and deeply emotional novel about mental health, masculinity and the power of love.

©2021 JJ Bola (P)2021 Hachette Audio UK

Critic reviews

"I knew from the opening that this book was going to break my heart. Breathless and gripping, it is a masterclass in empathy." (Yvonne Battle-Felton)    

"Absolutely stunning." (Elizabeth Day)       

"Wonderfully tender...Bola's vulnerable, delicate writing conveys so much truth and heart about the quiet pain in our hearts." (Nikesh Shukla)   

"Bola's insightful, intimate and lyrical work has been entrancing readers.... Reminiscent of Paul Beatty and Ralph Ellison." (The Bookseller)  

What listeners say about The Selfless Act of Breathing

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I loved every second

I had reached a struggle point in books- paper and audio, and stumbled across this. and I am so glad I did. what a fantastic book. thankyou for writing it. it's perfect.

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poetic writing . A beautiful exploration of identity

I loved this book and the narrator felt exactly as I'd imagine the central protagonist. poetic but unflinching in its depiction of mental health and life as a teacher!

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Amazing story!!!!!

Beautifully written very descriptive and engaging read I didn’t want it to end. As a London boy I could really relate to the story, well done JJ

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