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Carlos Heitor Cony
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Carlos Heitor Cony
is possibly Brazil's most distinguished living author. Born
in Rio de Janeiro in 1926, he has been a writer and journalist all his life,
witnessing and chronicling almost a century of modern
Brazilian history. He is also a leading columnist
for the prestigious Folha de S.Paulo and a member
of the Academia Brasileira de Letras. He has three Jabuti prizes to his name and in 1996, he won the Machado do Assis
prize in recognition of his body of work.
Quase memória (“Quasi
Memoir”), one of his most important novels, tells of the tender relationship
between father and son. It is a book of wonderful storytelling that shows a
different Brazil and a world long gone, where living life was deemed more
important than gain.
One evening,
Carlos Heitor Cony receives a letter from his father,
who died ten years ago. Seeing his handwriting evokes past adventures with the
man who managed to make life exciting even in the direst circumstances. Written
in a light and lively tone, this insightful, entertaining and heart-warming
story of a unique character expertly blends fiction with facts, combining personal
reminiscence with the Rio de Janeiro of the 1930s to 50s. The novel won the Machado
de Assis Prize of the Academia Brasileira de Letras as well
as the Jabuti
Prize for the best novel in 1995 and
sold over half a million copies in Brazil.
Quasi Memoir is a quasi-fictional novel, a homage to the author’s father. Permeating the book is the mirage
of a no longer attainable happiness,
and the image of a Brazil dreaming
of great things but settling for a bazaar of fantasies and compromises.
Marcelo Coelho, Folha de S. Paulo
It is also a book about the search
for a lost time. Cony has transformed his father into an unforgettable
character for all Brazilian literature.
Veja
An exquisite narration, extremely entertaining and full
of tenderness.
Le Monde des Livres
Cony’s
latest novel, A morte e a vida (“Life and Death”), deals with the controversial
topic of euthanasia. Nurse Vilma is dedicated to her
work. When Edmundo asks her to help his wife Maria Emília to die a painless death in the last stages of
cerebral cancer, she is reluctant. Slowly, the two of them
get emotionally involved...
Represented for Companhia das Letras, Brazil. Except English
Original editions (selection) and rights sold:
Novels:
O ventre
Rio de Janeiro: Civilização
Brasileira 1958; São Paulo: Companhia das
Letras 2002, 196 p.
A
verdade de cada dia
Rio de Janeiro: Civilização
Brasileira 1959; Porto Alegre: Mercado Aberto 2001, 138 p.
Prêmio Manuel Antônio de Almeida 1957
A casa do poeta trágico
Rio de Janeiro: Civilização
Brasileira 1961; Objetiva 2005, 216 p.
Prêmio Jabuti 1998
Pessach, a travessia
Rio de Janeiro: Civilização
Brasileira 1967; Objetiva 2007, 336 p.
France: Gallimard 1999; Folies d’Encre 2009 • Mexico: Extemporáneos 1973
Quase memória
São Paulo: Companhia das
Letras 1995; Rio de
Janeiro: Objetiva 2010, 208 p.
Prêmio Jabuti 1996; Prêmio Machado
de Assis 1996 for his œuvre
English sample translation available
France: Gallimard 1999 • Portugal: Palavra 2005 • Spain:
Ediciones B 2006
Romance sem palavras
São Paulo: Companhia das
Letras 1999; Rio de
Janeiro: Objetiva 2009, 152 p.
Prêmio Jabuti 2000
A tarde da sua ausência
São Paulo: Companhia das
Letras 2003, 168 p.
Spain: El Gall
O adiantado da hora
Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva
2006, 217 p.
A morte e a vida
Rio de Janeiro: Editora MemVavMem 2007, 157 p.
Chronicles:
O tudo e o nada
São Paulo: Publifolha 2004, 408 p.
Para ler na escola
Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva
2009, 156 p.
Eu, aos pedaços
São Paulo: Leya 2010, 256 p.