Daniel Hahn

What does Brazilian literature mean to you? Football and favelas, carnival and caipirinhas? Or perhaps, past these clichés, a multifarious literary landscape comes into view?Spanning 150 years of Brazilian history, these stories are a thrilling cross-section of a diverse short story culture. Ranging from luscious avant-garde writing by Clarice Lispector to realist wit by Machado de Assis, The Penguin Book of Brazilian Short Stories takes in wild humour, heartbreaking drama, the legacy of slavery, the influence of waves of immigration, and a surprising preponderance of ants.
A young student embarks on an unexpected series of tête-à-têtes in Chico Buarque's 'To Clarice Lispector, Candidly'; and a man who absolutely does not know Javanese builds a career as a translator in Lima Barreto's 'The Man Who Knew Javanese'. Stories also comes with a note from their translator, illuminating the creative process of translation, and the anthology is supported by exploratory apparatus from editors Daniel Hahn and Padma Viswanathan.
Rich, thought-provoking and playful, The Penguin Book of Brazilian Short Stories is a landmark text.