Background
Rubem Fonseca was born on May 11, 1925, in Juiz De Fora, Minas Gerais, Brazil. He has lived most of his life in Rio de Janeiro.
50 West 4th Street, New York, NY 10012, USA
Fonseca obtained a graduate degree in the United States. He spent 1953-1954 studying business administration in the United States at New York University.
Rubem Fonseca
Rubem Fonseca
Rubem Fonseca
Rubem Fonseca
Rubem Fonseca
Rubem Fonseca
Rubem Fonseca
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Rubem Fonseca
Rubem Fonseca
Rubem Fonseca
(The Taker and Other Stories is Fonseca's first collection...)
The Taker and Other Stories is Fonseca's first collection to appear in English translation, and it ranges across his oeuvre, exploring the sights and sounds of the modern landscape of Rio de Janeiro.
https://www.amazon.com/Taker-Other-Stories-Rubem-Fonseca/dp/193482402X/?tag=2022091-20
1980
(Set in Rio, this novel looks at the underbelly of Brazili...)
Set in Rio, this novel looks at the underbelly of Brazilian urban society in which a lawyer, working on the murder case of two prostitutes, finds the case widening as details of sadism, cocaine smuggling, and multiple murders come to light.
https://www.amazon.com/High-Art-Rubem-Fonseca/dp/0881843431/?tag=2022091-20
1987
(An international best-seller by a Brazilian novelist foll...)
An international best-seller by a Brazilian novelist follows the absurd and compelling exploits of a film director who is intrigued by the mystery surrounding his newly attained precious gems and a curious offer to make a new film.
https://www.amazon.com/Emotions-Imperfect-Thoughts-Rubem-Fonseca/dp/0880015837/?tag=2022091-20
1988
(Rubem Fonseca's Crimes of August offers the first serious...)
Rubem Fonseca's Crimes of August offers the first serious literary treatment of the cataclysmic events of August 1954, arguably the most turbulent month in Brazilian history. A rich novel, both culturally and historically, Crimes of August tells two stories simultaneously.
https://www.amazon.com/Crimes-August-Brazilian-Literature-Translation/dp/1933227583/?tag=2022091-20
1990
(When Gustavo Flavio, a popular novelist, becomes the chie...)
When Gustavo Flavio, a popular novelist, becomes the chief suspect in the murder of a millionaire's wife, he is determined not to reveal the secrets of his past.
https://www.amazon.com/Bufo-Spallanzani-Rubem-Fonseca/dp/0525248722/?tag=2022091-20
1990
(In these seventeen stories by one of Brazil's foremost li...)
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.
https://www.amazon.com/Winning-Stories-Brazilian-Literature-Translation/dp/193322746X/?tag=2022091-20
2013
journalist lawyer policeman teacher writer
Rubem Fonseca was born on May 11, 1925, in Juiz De Fora, Minas Gerais, Brazil. He has lived most of his life in Rio de Janeiro.
Fonseca obtained a graduate degree in the United States. He spent 1953-1954 studying business administration in the United States at New York University.
Brazilian Rubem Fonseca has emerged from a life of multiple career changes to become one of his homeland’s foremost fiction writers. Fonseca, who spent time as a teacher, policeman, lawyer, journalist, and businessman, began his writing endeavors by penning film scripts and short stories for which he gained critical notice. With a keen eye for the social and political trends in Brazil, particularly of Rio de Janeiro, Fonseca began writing mystery novels that shed light on some of the cracks of Brazilian society. His works struck a nerve with Brazilian readers, becoming so popular and critically successful that his books have now been translated into a total of seven languages. Three of his novels have been translated to English from their original Portuguese, beginning with High Art (1986), and followed by Bufo Spallanzani (1990) and Vast Emotions and Imperfect Thoughts (1998).
Originally published in 1983, High Art was described as a crime/thriller by American publisher Harper & Row. The book was the first to gain Fonseca an international audience. While the story contains murder and crime, it provides a satirical and often humorous look at the mystery genre.
In the story protagonist Mandrake, who is a criminal lawyer, is called on to investigate a series of homicides in which all of the murder victims are prostitutes from Rio. The likable Mandrake, who is also the narrator, has a passion for women, cigars, and wine, but is not the most efficient detective. He rarely solves any mysteries on his own, and when he does find solutions it is merely by chance or through the help of another character. The plot follows Mandrake as he makes his way through Rio in pursuit of the leader of a vast drug empire, a man named Thales Lima Prado. The story is filled with an array of colorful characters, including a black dwarf known as Iron Nose, who hides his illegal activities by posing as a circus entertainer.
Translated by Clifford E. Landers, Bufo & Spallanzani is Fonseca’s second translated novel and his first great success. Not only have there been over thirty printings of the book in Brazil, but it also found a receptive audience in Europe. The fictional story is narrated by a famous Brazilian writer named Gustavo Flavio, whose lover is murdered in the beginning pages. To remove suspicion from himself, Flavio begins a private investigation into the killing. At the same time, a gritty but honest police inspector named Guedes is also trying to solve the crime, and he leads the reader through the mean streets of Rio. In addition to trying to track his lover’s killer, Flavio, who makes frequent references to his favorite writers such as Tolstoy, Flaubert, Maupassant, Baudelaire, as well as the Brazilian poet Murilo Mendes, is also writing a novel that is called Bufo & Spallanzani. This novel contains identical scenes and crimes that are in the main plot, which can throw off the unaware reader.
Vast Emotions and Imperfect Thoughts, which was also translated by Landers, revolves around the narrator, a Brazilian movie director who remains nameless through-out the book. In the story’s opening, the director is startled when a mysterious woman delivers a package to his door and disappears. He sets out to determine the identity of the woman but finds that she was murdered shortly after their brief encounter. The reader also learns that the director has just moved into a new apartment, and it soon becomes obvious that he is fleeing a painful past. As it turns out, the director’s recent lover, a woman named Ruth, committed suicide largely because she was paralyzed after he had driven their car into a pole. Putting his pain aside, he tracks down clues about the mysterious woman’s past. During this time, a German businessman approaches the director and offers him the opportunity to write and direct a version of the novel Red Cavalry, which was written by the Russian Isaac Babel. The director agrees and soon becomes as transfixed by Babel's life as he is in finding the identity of the woman, who he learns was a famous costume maker for the Carnival.
At this point, a second plot begins, as the director flies to Cold War-era Berlin to do research on Babel’s life. To his amazement, the director comes into contact with a very rare manuscript written by Babel, smuggles it back to Brazil, and commences in writing the screenplay. However, shortly after his return, he is kidnapped by a band of jewel smugglers whose main method of smuggling involves concealing diamonds with fake jewelry that is used to decorate Carnival costumes. Near the end of the book, the two plots converge as the director learns all that has happened to him is somehow interrelated.
(Set in Rio, this novel looks at the underbelly of Brazili...)
1987(An international best-seller by a Brazilian novelist foll...)
1988(The Taker and Other Stories is Fonseca's first collection...)
1980(In these seventeen stories by one of Brazil's foremost li...)
2013(Rubem Fonseca's Crimes of August offers the first serious...)
1990(When Gustavo Flavio, a popular novelist, becomes the chie...)
1990