Fernanda Torres

'Assaulted by the notion of death and at the height of power', the author uses the stories of a group of friends struggling with the end of life to talk about feelings and afflictions of his generation. "Fim" is structured around the stories of Carioca friends who, as the end of their lives, recall the most memorable moments of their existence. Alvaro, who opens the book, is plagued by a solitary old age. Cyrus is the eternal conqueror, killed by a cancer. Silvio can not kick the addiction to drugs and sex or in old age. Ribeiro is an athletic guy, beach bum, which called for the medicine to gain sexual survival. And there's grandson, the face of the class who never grew vices, incapable of betraying the woman or friendships. The five, now in their 70s, 80s, are representatives of the fauna of Copacabana, melancholy and resigned survivors of a lineage that was frustrated of their aspirations.

A glória e seu cortejo de horrores, novo romance de Fernanda Torres, autora de Fim, acompanha as desventuras de Mario Cardoso, um ator de meia idade, dos dias de sucesso como astro de telenovela até a total derrocada quando decide encenar uma versão de Rei Lear - e as coisas não saem exatamente como esperava. Mescla eletrizante de comédia de erros e retrato do artista, o livro atravessa diversas fases da carreira de Mario (e da história recente do Brasil), suas lembranças de juventude no teatro político, a incursão pelo Cinema Novo dos anos 60, a efervescência hippie do Verão do Desbunde, o encontro com o teatro de Tchékhov, a glória como um dos atores mais famosos de uma época em que a televisão dava as cartas no país. Um painel corrosivo de uma geração que viu sua ideia de arte sucumbir ao mercado, à superficialidade do mundo hiperconectado e, sobretudo, à derrocada de suas próprias ilusões.

A glória e seu cortejo de horrores

From Fernanda Torres, the celebrated Brazilian actress and bestselling author of The End, comes a riotous tragicomedy of a famed actor’s path from national sex symbol to cult icon to raving madman after a disastrous performance as King Lear. Mario Cardoso’s meteoric rise to fame begins in the early sixties, when the promise of sex and revolution permeates the Rio air. But as he conquers the stage, arthouse cinema, and primetime TV, the fever and the decadence of stardom take their toll, and middle-aged Mario finds himself with an ebbing reputation, hairline, and bank account. He needs a royal comeback. Enter King Lear. Mario’s turn as Shakespeare’s mad monarch goes well until he’s overtaken by a fit of laughter that gets more demented with each performance. Forced to cancel the show, he’s confronted with his mother’s unstaged madness—she’s now convinced that Mario is in fact her long-departed husband. Broke and desperate, Mario signs on for an evangelical network production: Sodoma. Yet, as low as he’s fallen, Mario’s final set is one he never imagined. With the wicked humor and fleet-footed pace that made her novel The End a runaway bestseller in Brazil, Fernanda Torres’s Glory and its Litany of Horrors is a razor-sharp take on the uneasy marriage of Art and the marketplace, and on the profession of acting in all its horror and glory. Praise for The End: “The End, a riotous, sex-stuffed novel by Torres, which takes Technicolor pleasure in detailing the deaths of five incorrigible old beach bums of the Bossa Nova generation…. Her five men, whom she kills off in reverse chronology, are ‘united by male allegiance, women, and the beach, in that order’.... With America undergoing a mass reckoning with male sexuality, a novel like this feels both taboo and gleeful, a guilty kind of reprieve.” —Hermione Hoby, The New Yorker “The intense but tenuous bonds of male friendship give shape and structure to this energetic, impressive debut from acclaimed Brazilian actress Torres. Set against the vivid backdrop of Copacabana, the episodic novel follows five contentious and devoted friends—Ciro, Silvio, Neto, Alvaro, and Ribeiro—from the hedonistic nights of their youth to the humbling days of old age. Beginning with the violent death of Alvaro, the group’s last surviving member, the story meticulously works it way back through the complicated lives of each friend, culminating with the operatic death of Ciro, who retains a spark of youth until his last moments. Torres paints a sharp, intimate portrait of male sexuality and psychology (including the experience of aging), illuminating the friends’ profound differences (such as between the decadent Silvio and the meeker Ribeiro) while never undermining the believability of their connection. As assured as the characterizations of the central characters are the investigations of the men and women who surround them, the wives who abide their exploits and the priests who speak at their funerals. The narration and momentum remain lively and sharp throughout.” —Publishers Weekly, Starred Review “Set in Rio de Janeiro, this fine literary debut from one of Brazil’s most distinguished actors tells the stories of five men as they approach their inevitable (and in some cases premature) ends. By turns tragic and hilarious, the novel is about friendship, betrayal and excess, and about male fury against the ravages of old age.” —Angel Gurría-Quintana, Financial Times “The End is the perfect summer release. Torres creates an aging, male Carioca friend group that is a mess of cynicism, nostalgia, frustration, and a seemingly unending appetite for sex. This book is raunchy, sophisticated, and so wonderfully Brazilian. I devoured this book in one sitting. Parabens Fernanda!!!” —Daniela Roger, Books & Books (Coral Gables, FL) "The year of 2013 would have been worth it for Fernanda Torres' novel alone. How beautiful it is to see an authentic literary talent emerge so clearly…. In her debut The End, she goes beyond just being a good writer. Her tone is so well crafted." —Caetano Veloso “You think you see The End coming—or the ending coming—but Fernanda Torres has other plans for you on this journey. Torres presents five friends—fairly flawed, tragic clowns—and their views on life and those around them as they try to navigate their lives and deaths. This novel is a funny, smart, well conceived, and perfectly executed playful look at mortality.” —Nick Buzanski, Book Culture (New York, NY) “Famed actress Fernanda Torres’s debut novel, The End, is a brutally unflinching look at the lifelong friendships of five aging male friends and the women in their lives.… [Torres has an] agile hand at establishing voice, pacing, and tone. Hers is strong, economical prose.… The machismo of each character is impressively rendered.… The End is vivid and irascible as it confronts the reality of aging, regrets, and death.” —Monica Carter, Foreword Reviews, Five-Heart Review “Torres’ writing [has] flair and wit… [an] unforgiving portrait of men at their worst.” —Kirkus

Glory and Its Litany of Horrors

Final

The End centers on five friends in Rio de Janeiro who, nearing the end of their lives, are left with memories—of parties, marriages, divorces, fixations, inhibitions, bad decisions—and the physical indignities of aging. Alvaro lives alone and spends his time going from doctor to doctor and bemoaning the evils of his ex-wife. Silvio is a junkie who can’t give up the excesses of sex and drugs even in his old age. Ribeiro is an athletic beach bum enjoying a prolonged sex life thanks to Viagra. Neto is the square member of the group, a faithful husband until his last days. And Ciro is the Don Juan envied by all—but the first to die, struck down by cancer. For all of them, successful careers, personal revelations, and Zen serenity are out of the question, blocked by a seemingly insurmountable wall of frustrations. Orbiting around them are a priest questioning his vocation and a cast of complicated women, neglected and embattled by these self-involved men. Edgy and wise, this tragicomic debut delves into taboo subjects—death, infidelity, impotence, the difficulties of marriage—with unsentimental honesty, and brings Rio and these characters to life in full color.

Fernanda Torres

About

Books

Join the club