Author(s): Rubem Fonseca (Author), Clifford E. Landers (Translator)
Publisher: Tagus Press at UMass Dartmouth
Publication Date: 11 April 2013
Language: English
Print length: 208 pages
ISBN-10: 193322746X
ISBN-13: 9781933227467
Book Description
In these seventeen stories by one of Brazil’s foremost living authors, Fonseca introduces readers-with unsurpassed candor and keenness of observation-to a kaleidoscopic, often disturbing world. A hunchback sets his lascivious sights on seducing a beautiful woman. A wealthy businessman hires a ghost writer, with unexpected results. A family of modern-day urban cannibals celebrates a bizarre rite of passage. A man roams the nocturnal streets of Rio de Janeiro in search of meaning. A male ex-police reporter writes an advice column under a female pseudonym. A prosperous entrepreneur picks up a beautiful girl in his Mercedes only to discover his costly mistake. A loser elaborates a lethal plan to become, in his mind, a winner.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“These stories underscore the brutality of human nature”-as well as the uncomfortable truth that the bleakest situations are often the best places to mine absurdity and even beauty. When Fonseca slices into the darkest chambers of men’s hearts and laughs, the result is disturbingly satisfying.”–Stephanie Reents, author of The Kissing List
“The Brazilian Rubem Fonseca . . . is one of these contemporary writers who have absconded from the library to create high-quality literature with materials and techniques stolen from mass culture. He brilliantly justifies that old proverb, ‘Set a thief to catch a thief.'”–Mario Vargas Llosa
“A writer of joyful excess.”–New York Times Book Review
“The best thing in the work of Rubem Fonseca is not knowing where he’s going to take us. Every time I start a book of his it’s as if I answered a phone call in the middle of the night: ‘Hi, it’s me. You’re not going to believe what’s happening.’ Well, maybe not at first, but soon I’m believing everything. His writing performs miracles, it’s mysterious. Each of his books is not only a worthwhile journey: it’s a journey in some way necessary.”–Thomas Pynchon
About the Author
RUBEM FONSECA, winner of the Prémio Camões (2003), the most prestigious literary prize for Portuguese language literature, the FIL Guadalajara prize (2003), and the inaugural Iberoamericano Manuel Rojas prize (2012)–is one of Brazil’s most distinguished contemporary authors. His critically-acclaimed novel Crimes of August is forthcoming from Tagus Press. CLIFFORD E. LANDERS has translated fifteen novels from the Portuguese.
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