O riso dos ratos
The Laughter of Rats
by Joca Reiners Terron
Todavia Livros, 2021
208 pages
13,5×20,8 cm
An apocalyptic journey through hell by one of Brazil’s greatest contemporary writers. A story that investigates the fails of present times while searching for answers in the past.
This story’s protagonist, an intellectual who works as a freelance translator and editor, lives in an equally nameless city.
He is the father of an adult daughter, an acting student who was raped by a bar owner. Not trusting the system of justice, he feels obliged to seek revenge by himself. While increasingly obsessing on his mission, he sinks into lethargy and doesn’t leave his apartment for months.
When he is finally forced to go outside, he enters a devastated city where all social norms have been suspended. At his return, his building is barred and he suddenly has to join the ranks of the homeless. This will be just the first stop in a cruel descent that will lead him to the underworld. What keeps him alive is the thought of revenge, as well as the memories of the life he led before.
Here you can download an English BOOK PROFILE
Rights available: Italy
Represented in collaboration with Mertin Literary Agency
Joca Reiners Terron (1968) is a poet, writer and graphic designer. He was an editor at the independent Brazilian publishing house Ciência do Acidente and is now a regular contributor to the prestigious newspaper Folha de São Paulo and TV Cultura. Joca Terron has won the Prêmio Machado de Assis 2010 and was shortlisted for the São Paulo Prize for Literature in 2011, 2018, and 2020.
