Tras haber sido galardonado con el prestigioso Premio Camões por su trayectoria literaria, el celebrado compositor, músico, poeta y novelista Chico Buarque nos invita a asomarnos a la vida de Manuel Duarte, un escritor de novela histórica que tuvo su momento de gloria en la década de los noventa y que ahora, con la cuenta bancaria en números rojos, intenta escribir en vano el libro que debe a sus editores. Mientras disfruta de sus paseos peripatéticos por las elegantes calles de su barrio, Leblon, o visita la favela vecina de Viridal, recorremos un Río de Janeiro que, de una forma cada vez más patente, se doblega y sangra bajo el látigo de la injusticia social y económica: un músico negro acribillado por la policía, un decreto que flexibiliza el uso de armas de fuego, una manifestación reprimida violentamente o lujosas fiestas de la nueva casta política inundan los periódicos. Buarque nos brinda, a modo de rompecabezas y desde múltiples voces y perspectivas, su novela más punzante y nos asoma, con su habitual mirada irónica, a los devaneos tragicómicos de un escritor en crisis y a la memoria fragmentada del enloquecido Brasil de Bolsonaro. This is an elegy to solitude, to pain, to erotic (and literary) misunderstandings, and to the longing over all we do not say. Lila Azam Zanganeh After being honored with the prestigious Camões Prize for his literary career, famous composer, musician, poet, and novelist Chico Buarque invites us to look into Manuel Duarte s life. He is a historical novelist who had his moment of glory back in the nineties and now, with a bank account in the red, tries vainly to write the book his publishers expect. While enjoying his peripatetic walks on the elegant streets of his neighborhood, Leblon, or visiting Viridal, a neighboring favela, we journey through Rio de Janeiro, a city that bends and bleeds, in an increasingly apparent way, under the lash of social and economic injustice. A black musician shot dead by police, a decree that facilitates the use of firearms, a violently repressed protest rally, or lavish parties in the new political circle are the kind of stories that flood the newspapers. In the form of a puzzle with multiple voices and perspectives, Buarque gives us his most poignant novel yet and shows us, with his usual ironic look, the tragicomic dalliances of a writer in crisis and the fragmented memory of the maddened Brazil under Bolsonaro.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.