Rubem Fonseca

José - 2011

José has been in love with literature since he was a child. A devoted reader of detective novels, he began writing at a very early age with the help of an Underwood typewriter. This motivation helps him through tough times as an adult, becoming an author of courageous works that challenge the status quo. The story takes a stroll through the memories of the protagonist, but never yields to nostalgia. 

O Seminarista - 2009

For the Seminarian killing brings neither regret nor pleasure. Killing is his job and it allows him to devote time to what he truly loves: books, films and women. He carries out orders from the Businessman conscientiously, to the letter. He doesn’t want to know who he is killing; he doesn’t even read the newspapers the following day. However, when he decides to abandon his profession, he finds that he is not as immune to his work as he thought. He must face the ghosts of a past which he believed he’d put behind him.

Mandrake, a Bíblia e a Bengala - 2005

In this book Mandrake is back, the character which Rubem Fonseca introduced in his novels The great art and From the depths of a prostituted world I only kept love for my cigar. This time, Mandrake has to solve two mysteries. The first consists in finding out if one of the specialists in rare books from the Club of Bibliomanes is behind the disappearance of the Giant Bible of Mainz, one of the first books to be printed on the Gutenberg publishing press. His second task is to discover who stole his Swaine cane and used it as a murder weapon. Brazil Distribution acquired the rights for TV adaptation for the series O caso de F.A. 

Diario de um fescenino - 2003

The writer of a one hit wonder decides to start a diary, in part to keep a record of his dissipated love life, but also to cure his writer’s block. As the diary pages roll on, they unfold a storyline that is satirical, humorous and romantic, and a thriller.

O doente Moliere - 2000

Just before dying, Molière reveals that he is not dying from any illness but has been poisoned.  A friend of his who is a marquess, the narrator of this story, investigates what has happened. The investigation leads him to touch on a number of themes in the playwright’s work. His critical attitude towards many members of high society means that many doctors, clergymen or writers wish him dead.  

E do meio do mundo prostituto só amores guardei ao meu charuto - 1997

Gustavo Flavio, a writer fascinated by the feminine world, an out-an-out womanizer, a celebrity, an admired figure and erudite pedant, becomes involved in a number of homicides. Mandrake, his lawyer, shares the details of the case with the reader. Brazil Distribution acquired the rights to TV for this work. HBO Latin America Media Services produced the series O caso de F.A.

O selvagem da ópera - 1994

Antonio Carlos Gómes, a tormented musician and the favourite of the emperor who ruled Brazil in the second half of the 19^th century, travels to Italy to make a name for himself on the same stage where Verdi, Ponchielli, Boito, Puccini and Wagner cohabit, triumph and fail. With a style that combines fiction, biography and film techniques, Fonseca paints a portrait of the historical character in order to recreate an image of the artist in exile.

Agosto - 1990

Rubem Fonseca's Crimes of August offers the first serious literary treatment of the cataclysmic events of August 1954, arguably the most turbulent month in Brazilian history. A rich novel, both culturally and historically, Crimes of August tells two stories simultaneously. The first is private, involving the well-delineated character of Alberto Mattos, a police officer. The other is public, focusing on events that begin with the attempted assassination of Carlos Lacerda, a demagogic journalist and political enemy of President Getúlio Vargas, and culminate in Vargas's suicide on August 24,1954. Throughout this suspenseful novel, deceptively couched as a thriller, Fonseca interweaves fact and fiction in a complex, provocative plot. At the same time, he re-creates the atmosphere of the 1950s, when Rio de Janeiro was Brazil's capital and the nexus of political intrigue and corruption. Mattos is assigned to solve the brutal murder of a wealthy entrepreneur in the aftermath of what appears to be a homosexual liaison. An educated and introspective man, and one of the few in his precinct not on the take from the bankers" of the illegal lottery, Mattos suffers from alienation and a bleeding ulcer. His investigation puts him on a dangerous collision course with the conspiracy to depose Vargas, the novel's other narrative thread. The two overlap at several points, coming to their tragic end with the aged politician's suicide and Mattos's downfall. 

Vastas emoçoes e pensamentos imperfeitos - 1988

A grieving film director in Rio is visited by a carnival dancer who leaves him with a box full of precious gems. A few days later the dancer is dead, a man in a raincoat lurks outside the director's door, and a mysterious German producer surfaces with an irresistible offer: to make a film based on a story by the director's favorite author, the great Russian writer Isaac Babel. From this elemental framework the adventure begins. Dodging a horde of local smugglers, the director soon finds himself fleeing to Berlin, where a web of literary and political skulduggery awaits him. Rumor has it that an unpublished Babel manuscript has survived the Stalinist purges and is now being shopped by a lovesick Soviet bureaucrat. Forsaking caution, money, and at times his own sanity, the director makes a foray into East Berlin in pursuit of the one true thing that still stirs his heart.

'Blame it on Rio', New York Times Book Reviews, August 23, 1998

Bufo & Spallanzani - 1986

Gustavo Flavio, a man with a sordid past behind him, discovers love and literature and rises to fame as a novelist. But one day, the wealthy Delfina Delamare is found dead in her car. In the car’s glove compartment lies a book by Gustavo, bearing a dedication. From this unsettling premise, Rubem Fonseca crafts one of his most intriguing works.

A grande arte - 1983

Set in Rio, this novel looks at the underbelly of Brazilian urban society in which a lawyer, working on the murder case of two prostitutes, finds the case widening as details of sadism, cocaine smuggling, and multiple murders come to light.

«Rubem Fonseca, author of ''High Art,'' is one of those contemporary writers who have absconded from the library to create high-quality literature with materials and techniques stolen from mass culture.» Mario Vargas Llosa, The New York Times  

«In addition to being an amusing detective novel with all the devices typical of the genre and being accessible to all readers, it is also elegant and subtle. Its microcosm of murderers, drug traffickers, prostitutes and ominous capitalists contains an ironic kaleidoscope of historical, literary and mythological allusions. These supplementary elements dignify the story and give it another esthetic dimension, which parodies the detective genre.» Mario Vargas Llosa, The New York Times 

O caso Morel - 1973

The first novel by the master of Brazilian noir genre. A terrifyingly sordid thriller.

Photographer Paul Morel receives an unexpected visitor in his prison cell. Commissioner Matos and his friend Vilela, a famous novelist, are willing to do anything to find out everything about the crime Morel is accused of. Apparently, the latter is writing an autobiography in which he intends to confess acts that not even in his most twisted nightmares Matos could imagine. But where is the frontier between fiction and reality in such an extreme, delirious text? Sex, violence, depravity and abuse... everything finds a place in Morel’s story. Or perhaps his life was actually like that?

Rubem Fonseca, one of the most international Brazilian writers of all time, tears the reader’s soul to shreds in a novel loaded down with the worst side of the human condition. Using stark, direct language, and in a style that is both thoughtful and disturbing, this is undoubtedly one of the most controversial literary works in its genre.

Carne Crua - 2019

Rubem Fonseca is a true master in the art of exfoliating the skin of words to leave his stories raw. In his latest book, the author has collected twenty-six texts that, while maintaining the harshness of murders, betrayals and social injustices, also contribute to the desire of discoveries, the softness of love stories and the change of perspective with the poetry.

Cuentos Completos I - 2018

For the first time, the complete stories by the Brazilian master of the noir genre.

Cuentos completos is the first complete collection in Spanish of short stories by Rubem Fonseca, an essential voice in the Latin American literature of the last fifty years. Maximum representative of visceral realism, Fonseca is the owner of a sharp, biting prose, and is not afraid to call things by their name. His works are characterised by a critical portrayal of the social reality of his country.

So much so that in 1977, he suffered censorship by the Brazilian regime. Fonseca fought back, won a lawsuit against the State, and his books are now part of the international literary canon.

Portrayals of cruelty, characters placed in corrosive situations, and hu-morous twists are characteristic of his works, a style that has set the tone for a generation of writers.

“The best thing about the works of Rubem Fonseca is  not knowing where he’s going to take us. Every time I start a book of his, it’s as if I answered a phone call in  the middle of the night: ‘Hi, it’s me. You’re not going to believe what’s happening.’ His writing performs miracles, it’s mysterious.” Thomas Pynchon 

Calibre 22 - 2017

In this collection of stories, Rubem Fonseca reintroduces one of his most iconic literary characters: the detective Mandrake. This time, Mandrake is hired to uncover who is behind a series of murders involving the editor of a renowned women’s magazine. The collection also includes shorter stories that revisit some of the author’s hallmark themes, such as social inequality and its often tragic consequences; violence driven by racism, misogyny, homophobia, and other prejudices; pointed or outright criticism of religious dogmas; and the unpredictable actions of psychopathic minds. Sharp shots from an author of the highest caliber.

Historias curtas - 2015

This collection of thirty-eight tales delves into the classic themes of Fonseca’s writing, such as violence and eroticism. It also explores previously unexamined facets of his work, including aging and the degeneration of the mind, tackled with either irreverence or profound dramatic depth.

Amalgama - 2014

Rubem Fonseca's new book of stories contains all of the elements –eroticism, violence, narrative pace, a noir atmosphere– that characterise his works, and have established him as one of Brazil's most important and interesting contemporary authors. 

In the 34 stories that make up this volume, we find a mother who plans to sell her baby so she can buy dentures (El hijo), and a man who discovers a cat murderer in the park and considers questions such as “What pleasure could there be in killing a cat? Is someone who kills cats capable of killing a person?” (Esto es lo que usted debe hacer.) These stories by Rubem Fonseca are populated by characters and situations linked by pain, anger and failure, by tenderness and love, a true amalgam of lives that are built and destroyed in an instant.

Axilas e outras histórias indecorosas - 2011

A collection of narratives where murder is presented with disarming naturalness, as something strictly necessary. Fonseca seems to view crime as one of the most effective ways to avoid trouble and, perhaps, to increase personal fortune with minimal effort. The production company Leopardo Films has acquired the film rights to these stories.

Ela e outras mulheres - 2006

This book brings together tales of conquests and flings, of goodbyes, of the dead and dying, of crumbling marriages, and of couples who lie to each other while trying to stay together. All this and more unfolds across the twenty-seven stories in the collection. As in all his work, the author strikes a chord with his bitter humor, spare prose, and delightfully twisted morality.

64 contos - 2004

With his deep aversion to sentimentality and local clichés, Rubem Fonseca draws inspiration from the language of cinema and writers such as Ernest Hemingway and Isaac Babel to forge his own voice. The foundation is a blend of starkness and disenchantment in almost equal measure.

Pequenas criaturas - 2002

This volume brings together thirty short stories, some very brief, all executed with a provocative intensity. Just as in his other works Fonseca focuses on violence and the atrocities of contemporary Brazil, here he turns to romantic passion and the religion of nakedness as a leitmotif. Alexander Mello acquired the rights to film a digital short based on the story Hildete.

Secreçoes, excreçoes e desatinos - 2002

Rubem Fonseca presents another series of stories marked by his usual irreverence. While his previous delirious characters emerged from the worlds of sex, violence, or marginality, this time he dives into the physiology of the human body, linking it to the absurdities of the soul.

A confraria dos espadas - 1998

This collection of eight stories delves into lethal injections and free will; a man who mistakes organ traffickers for benevolent angels; a party that continues with a dead guest; a championship involving dwarfs; a very peculiar version of the Romeo and Juliet story; and a brotherhood of men united by an ascetic sexuality... In other words, it covers a wide variety of situations and characters. Paulo E. Miranda based the story Anjos das Marquises for the creation of a short film.

Histórias de amor - 1997

One can expect anything from a collection of seven "love" stories by Rubem Fonseca. Anything good, of course, though often veering into realms of death, murder, and brutality. The volume showcases a wide generic range, encompassing everything from short stories to novellas.

O buraco na parede - 1995

Rubem Fonseca enjoys unsettling the reader by presenting absurd situations, ridiculous plots, scenes with almost pornographic erotica, and gruesome scenarios. All these elements appear in this book, which consists of eight short stories.

Romance negro e outras historias - 1992

This collection includes six short stories and the novella that gives the volume its title. As in all his work, Fonseca creates new and fascinating worlds that bear some resemblance to the one we know. His fans argue that the story Romancero negro is one of the peaks of his creativity.

O Cobrador - 1979

The Taker and Other Stories is Fonseca’s first collection to appear in English translation, and it ranges across his oeuvre, exploring the sights and sounds of the modern landscape of Rio de Janeiro. Rubem Fonseca’s Rio is a city at war, a city whose vast disparities—in wealth, social standing, and prestige—are untenable. In the stories of The Taker, rich and poor live in an uneasy equilibrium, where only overwhelming force can maintain order, and violence and deception are essential tools of survival.

Whether recounting the story of a businessman who runs over pedestrians to let off steam, a serial killer being pushed to ever greater crimes by his bourgeois lover, the desperate poor rushing to butcher a cow that has been killed in a traffic accident, or a man seeking out confirmation for a past which his friends deny, Fonseca repeatedly reaffirms his status as one of the purest storytellers on the contemporary Brazilian literary scene. 

Feliz Ano Novo - 1976

Poor, unscrupulous thugs, hopeful that the coming year will treat them a little better; wealthy executives with murderous instincts; children from affluent families with cannibal tendencies... The inventory of villains that Rubem Fonseca presents is unparalleled. The book's pace allows it to be read in a couple of hours, but its depth invites readers to reread and consult it repeatedly over the next four decades. Several stories have been adapted into short films and TV series.

Lúcia McCartney - 1967

Adrenaline, coarse language, high-flown invectives, explicit violence, love as a purely sexual component, aggressive machismo, the exoticism of being someone cultivated in a world where only physical sensations matter, and cold cynicism when the boundaries between good and evil are blurred—these are just supplementary tools serving a main idea: the display of the various faces of Rio de Janeiro. TV Globo acquired the rights for a television program. Ricardo Capille Waddington Produções bought the film rights to the work in 2007.

A coleira do Cão - 1965

This second collection of short stories showcases themes and obsessions that are very close to the writer: violence, dissatisfaction with married life, loneliness, the uncertainty that urban life generates in young people... Exceptionally, the eight stories lack detective plots. TV Globo has acquired the rights to produce a television episode based on this work.

Os prisioneiros - 1963

A collection of ten short stories in which a still-novice Fonseca showcases uncommon resources and techniques in Brazilian literature of the time. In 2012, Renner Varcilio de Souza acquired the rights to produce a short film based on one of the stories in this book.

O romance morreu. Crônicas - 2007

The author presents a hypothesis: perhaps fiction literature hasn't ended, but its reader has. Therefore, it is possible for readers to become extinct, but not writers. If that were the case, fiction literature and poetry would continue to exist, although authors would only write for a handful of people.

Otras antologías -

• 1973. O homem de fevreiro ou março. Ed. Companhia das Letras (en portugués).
• 1988. Das lied des feurs. Ed. Piper (en alemán).
• 1989. Selección de cuentos. Ed. Piper (en alemán). Incluye relatos extraídos de Os prisioneiros, A coleira do Cão, Lúcia McCartney, Feliz Ano Novo y O cobrador.
• 1994. Cuentos reunidos. Ed. Companhia das Letras (en portugués).
• 1998. Onze em campo e un banco de primera. Ed. Relume (en portugués). Contiene el cuento Abril, extraído de Feliz Ano Novo.
• 1998. Los mejores relatos. Ed. Alfaguara. Incluye relatos extraídos de Os Prisoneiros, A coleira do cao, Lúcia McCartney, Feliz ano novo, O cobrador, Romance negro e outras historias, O Buraco na parede e Historias de amor.

Guiones -