Spilt Milk: A Novel
Dec 2012 · Open Road + Grove/Atlantic
Ebook
192
Pages
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About this ebook
The revered Brazilian songwriter and novelist "has breathed the story of a whole country into a single, unforgettable man with a soul as big as Brazil" (Nicole Krauss, author of Forest Dark).
As Eulálio d'Assumpção lies dying in a Brazilian public hospital, his daughter and the attending nurses are treated—whether they like it or not—to his last, rambling monologue. Ribald, hectoring, and occasionally delusional, Eulálio reflects on his past, present, and future—on his privileged, plantation-owning family; his father's philandering with beautiful French whores; his own half-hearted career as a weapons dealer; the eventual decline of the family fortune; and his passionate courtship of the wife who would later abandon him.
Through Eulálio's journey across the twists and turns of his own fragmented memories, Buarque conjures an evocative portrait of a man's life and love, while bringing to life the broad sweep of Brazilian history. At once jubilant and painfully nostalgic, playful and devastatingly urgent, readers of the award-winning Spilt Milk will find themselves "in the hands of a master storyteller" ( The Plain Dealer).
"In Spilt Milk [Buarque] confronts the themes that make Brazil squirm, from the stain of slavery to the inferiority complex the country has historically felt when it compares itself to Europe." —The New York Times
"Lovely details and a fine sense of place . . . Echoing Sebald's Rings of Saturn . . . There's plenty to like." —Publishers Weekly
"One of the saddest love stories, and one of the truest." —Nicole Krauss
As Eulálio d'Assumpção lies dying in a Brazilian public hospital, his daughter and the attending nurses are treated—whether they like it or not—to his last, rambling monologue. Ribald, hectoring, and occasionally delusional, Eulálio reflects on his past, present, and future—on his privileged, plantation-owning family; his father's philandering with beautiful French whores; his own half-hearted career as a weapons dealer; the eventual decline of the family fortune; and his passionate courtship of the wife who would later abandon him.
Through Eulálio's journey across the twists and turns of his own fragmented memories, Buarque conjures an evocative portrait of a man's life and love, while bringing to life the broad sweep of Brazilian history. At once jubilant and painfully nostalgic, playful and devastatingly urgent, readers of the award-winning Spilt Milk will find themselves "in the hands of a master storyteller" ( The Plain Dealer).
"In Spilt Milk [Buarque] confronts the themes that make Brazil squirm, from the stain of slavery to the inferiority complex the country has historically felt when it compares itself to Europe." —The New York Times
"Lovely details and a fine sense of place . . . Echoing Sebald's Rings of Saturn . . . There's plenty to like." —Publishers Weekly
"One of the saddest love stories, and one of the truest." —Nicole Krauss
The revered Brazilian songwriter and novelist "has breathed the story of a whole country into a single, unforgettable man with a soul as big as Brazil" (Nicole Krauss, author of Forest Dark).
As Eulálio d'Assumpção lies dying in a Brazilian public hospital, his daughter and the attending nurses...
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About the author
From world-renowned Brazilian writer Chico Buarque comes a stylish, imaginative tale of love, loss, and longing, played out across multiple generations of one Brazilian family. At once jubilant and painfully nostalgic, playful and devastatingly urgent, Spilt Milk cements Chico Buarque's reputation as a masterful storyteller.As Eulálio Assumpção lies dying in a Brazilian public hospital, his daughter and the attending nurses are treated—whether they like it or not—to his last, rambling monologue. Ribald, hectoring, and occasionally delusional, Eulálio reflects on his past, present, and future—on his privileged, plantation-owning family; his father's philandering with beautiful French whores; his own half-hearted career as a weapons dealer; the eventual decline of the family fortune; and his passionate courtship of the wife who would later abandon him. As Eulálio wanders the sinuous twists and turns of his own fragmented memories, Buarque conjures up a brilliantly evocative portrait of a man's life and love, set in the broad sweep of vivid Brazilian history.
From world-renowned Brazilian writer Chico Buarque comes a stylish, imaginative tale of love, loss, and longing, played out across multiple generations of one Brazilian family. At once jubilant and painfully nostalgic, playful and devastatingly urgent, Spilt Milk cements Chico Buarque's reputatio...
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