The And Other Stories Portuguese reading group returns in 2021 with a selection of exciting contemporary Brazilian fiction. We have The Broken Ones by Natércia Pontes, the bittersweet story of an unconventional family in 1990s Recife; The Remains of Yesterday by Marcelo Vicintin, a debut that is part parody, part caustic critique of Brazil’s elite; and Cloudy Sombre Bleak by Veronica Stigger, a collection of texts that straddle genre – including short story, poetry and theatre – to present a humorous and terrifying whole.
How it works
1. To read the whole book, you please order the books yourself from a shop or library if you can. If you have trouble finding a title, we may be able to lend you a copy – email info@andotherstories.org to be put in touch with the organiser, letting us know where you live.
2. Read the books, then add your thoughts in the comments below.
3. Join us at a meet-up to discuss what we have read. You can be sure of lively, well informed discussion.
Where and when
Reading Period:
September – November 2021
Meet-ups:
Victor Meadowcroft will be holding a UK meeting to discuss these books on Thursday 2nd December at 7pm GMT, venue to be confirmed.
Bruna Dantas Lobato will be hosting a US discussion – details to follow.
Please get in touch with us at info@andotherstories.org if you would like to attend.
The Broken Ones
About the Book
Abigail, Berta and Lúcio are an unconventional trio. Two teenage girls share an apartment with their father, a loving, idiosyncratic hoarder, who is ill-adapted to practical life.
The Broken Ones is a moving and tragic coming-of-age story, capable of provoking nervous laughter. Through her description of the day-to-day life of a symbiotic family residing in the middle of an ever-growing mountain of garbage, Natércia Pontes sketches a fascinating portrait of three people seeking to coexist with their dreams and fantasies, habits and worries, fears and revelations.
The Remains of Yesterday
About the Book
“They say that money doesn’t change anyone, just unmasks them; and it is in a world without masks that human predilections become more apparent.”
This sentiment is at the core of a novel which alternates between the stories of two privileged narrators. One of them is Egydio, the heir to a shipping company, under house arrest after being busted by a police task force; the other is Marilu, a social climber in search of the perfect image, plunged into a frantic and uncertain present. Halfway between parody and critique, this novel seeks to portray a broader context; that of Brazil at the beginning of the 2020s. The Remains of Yesterday is, without doubt, one of the most corrosive and courageous literary debuts in recent years.
Cloudy Sombre Bleak
About the Book
Adopting a variety of forms and rhythms – stories, epiphanies, poems, texts inspired by theatre – this collection of fiction by Veronica Stigger presents an absolutely irresistible whole, a terrifying and humorous exploration of our fragilities (both mental and corporeal). We have the story of a college student whose black Tupperware inspires envy; the day it snowed over a tropical city; the long poem-story about blood, menstruation and death.