Moldy Strawberries: Stories

Originally published in 1982Caio Fernando Abreu is one of those authors who is picked up by every generation. Surreal & gripping stories about desire, tyranny, fear, & love, from one of Brazil’s greatest queer writers, whose work is appearing in English for the first time. In 18 gripping & daring stories filled with tension & intimacy, Caio Fernando Abreu navigatesa Brazil transformed by the AIDS epidemic & stifling military dictatorship of the 80s. Tenderly suspended between fear & longing, Abreu’s characters grasp for connection: • A man speckled with Carnival glitter crosses a crowded dance floor & seeks the warmth & beauty of another body. • A budding office friendship between two young men turns into a surprising love, “a strange & secret harmony." One man desires another but fears a clumsy word or gesture might tear their plot to pieces. After so many precarious offerings-a salvaged cigarette, a knock on the door from withing the downpour of a dream, or a tight-lipped smile-Abreu’s schemes explode & implode. Junkies, failed revolutionaries, poets, & conflicted artists face threats at every turn. But, inwardly ferocious & secretly resilient, they heal. For Caio Fernando Abreu there is beauty on the horizon, mingled with luminous memory & decay. Translated by Bruna Dantas Lobato, currently an Iowa Arts Fellow & MFA candidate in Literary Translation at the University of Iowa.°°° Bruna Dantas Lobato is a Brazilian writer and literary translator based in New York City. Her writing has appeared in A Public Space, BOMB, Ploughshares, & The Common. Her translation of Giovana Madalosso’s Tokyo Suite from Europa Editions was released in 2022. Caio Fernando Abreu is one of those authors who is picked up by every generation. Surreal and gripping stories about desire, tyranny, fear, and love, from one of Brazil’s greatest queer writers, whose work is appearing in English for the first time. In 18 gripping and daring stories filled with tension and intimacy, Caio Fernando Abreu navigates a Brazil transformed by the AIDS epidemic and stifling military dictatorship of the 80s. Tenderly suspended between fear and longing, Abreu’s characters grasp for connection: A man speckled with Carnival glitter crosses a crowded dance floor and seeks the warmth and beauty of another body. A budding office friendship between two young men turns into a surprising love, “a strange and secret harmony." One man desires another but fears a clumsy word or gesture might tear their plot to pieces. After so many precarious offerings--a salvaged cigarette, a knock on the door from withing the downpour of a dream, or a tight-lipped smile--Abreu’s schemes explode and implode. Junkies, failed revolutionaries, poets, and conflicted artists face threats at every turn. But, inwardly ferocious and secretly resilient, they heal. For Caio Fernando Abreu there is beauty on the horizon, mingled with luminous memory and decay. Translated by Bruna Dantas Lobato, currently an Iowa Arts Fellow and MFA candidate in Literary Translation at the University of Iowa. "In eighteen exhilarating stories, Caio Fernando Abreu navigates a Brazil transformed by the AIDS epidemic and stifling military dictatorship of the 80s. Tenderly suspended between fear and longing, Abreu's characters grasp for connection. A man speckled with Carnival glitter crosses a crowded dance floor and seeks the warmth and beauty of another body. A budding office friendship between two young men turns into a surprising love, "a strange and secret harmony." One man desires another but fears a clumsy word or gesture might tear their complot to pieces. After so many precarious offerings - a salvaged cigarette, a knock on the door from within the downpour of a dream, or a tight-lipped smile - Abreu's schemes explode and implode. Junkies, failed revolutionaries, poets, and conflicted artists face threats at every turn. But, inwardly ferocious and secretly resilient, they heal. For Caio Fernando Abreu there is beauty on the horizon, mingled with luminous memory and decay"-- Provided by publisher