Spud 3: Learning to Fly

As Spud Milton awkwardly navigates the trials of adolescence, he learns a crucial life lesson: when it comes to women and fools, appearances can be deceiving. “I’m almost a man in most respects,” Spud declares confidently on his sixteenth birthday. It’s 1992, and South Africa is on the cusp of significant change. While the nation faces an unpredictable future, Spud hopes for a trouble-free return to his senior year at boarding school. However, he soon finds that his spiteful nemesis has returned to torment him, and a talkative Malawian has moved into his dorm, joining the usual mix of friends and oddballs. Spud’s life feels more uncertain than ever as he struggles with Shakespeare, grapples with his faith and the influence of pessimism, and develops a distaste for fried fish after a startling revelation about his grandmother, Wombat.