Nelson Vieira

Contemporary Jewish Writing in Brazil showcases a diverse range of modern Jewish writers from one of South America’s most vibrant, multicultural communities. Brazil’s population is largely Catholic; its Jewish population today numbers about 120,000 mostly upwardly mobile Jews living in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Pôrto Alegre. Brazilian Jewish writers often use the testimonial and fantastic modes of Latin American literature to expose anti-Semitism, explore the challenges and opportunities for the Jewish diaspora in South America, and reexamine historical and cultural connections to the Old World. This anthology features the work of such internationally recognized figures as Moacyr Scliar and Clarice Lispector, including two early stories by Lispector that have never before appeared in English translation. Of special note are Samuel Rawet, the father of modern Jewish writing in Brazil; Alberto Dines, a prominent public and literary figure in the 1970s and 1980s; and more recently acclaimed writers such as Cíntia Moscovich.

An Anthology

Contemporary Jewish Writing in Brazil

Ignácio de Loyola Brandão

What if a man were so shallow that he couldn't believe his life had meaning unless he was loved and desired by millions of people? What if everything he learned from his television, from the movies, from what he heard on the radio, was treated as an absolute and incontrovertible truth? And what, then, if this man was amoral, cunning, and willing to lie, seduce, and kill to save himself from anonymity? With an army of consultants, a library of "howto" manuals, and an endless variety of product placements at his behest, the hero of "Anonymous Celebrity" sets out to become king of his own little world--which unfortunately turns out to be the same one the rest of us live in. Equal parts Nabokov, "All About Eve," and "Big Brother," this is a bawdy, irreverent indictment of our self-absorbed culture of celebrity, where to be anything less than famous means being something less than human...

Nelson Vieira

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