Phenotypes

Paulo Scott's delivers a smart & stylish account of the bigotry lurking in hearts & institutions alike. Translated by Daniel Hahn.In this complex tale, two very different brothers of mixed black & white heritage are divided by the colour of their skin, as racial tension rises in society and a guilty secret resurfaces from their shared past. Paulo Scott here probes the old wounds of race in Brazil and in particular the loss of a black identity independent from the history of slavery. Exploratory rather than didactic, a story of crime, street life & regret as much as a satirical novel of ideas, Phenotypes is a seething masterpiece of rage & reconciliation.‘A remarkably open & honest study of race, Paulo Scott’s Phenotypes grapples with contentious issues we may not yet have the language to discuss, which makes it all the more urgent. Daniel Hahn’s masterful translation engages with the text with humility & perceptiveness.’ — The 2022 International Booker Prize Judges°°° Paulo Scott has published four books of fiction & four of poetry. Scott was born in 1966 in Porto Alegre, in southern Brazil, & grew up in a working-class neighbourhood. At university, he was an active member of the student political movement & was also involved in Brazil’s re-democratisation process. For ten years he taught law at University in Porto Alegre. Scott moved to Rio de Janeiro in 2008 to focus on writing full-time.Daniel Hahn, the award-winning writer, editor, translator, & translation advocate, received the 2023 Ottaway Award for the Promotion of International Literature. His recent book, Catching Fire (Charco Press, 2022), pulls back the curtain on his translation of Diamela Eltit’s Never Did the Fire, recording in real time the artistic conversation that occurs within a translation. "Federico and Lourenço are brothers. Their father is black, a famed forensic pathologist for the police; their mother is white. Federico--distant, angry, analytical--has light skin, which means he's always been able to avoid the worst of the racism Brazilian culture has to offer. He can "pass" as white, and yet, because of this, he has devoted his life to racial justice. Lourenço, on the other hand, is dark-skinned, easygoing, and well-liked in the brothers' hometown of Porto Alegre--and has become a father himself. As Federico's fiftieth birthday looms, he joins a ludicrous yet chilling governmental committee in the capital. It is tasked with quelling the increasingly violent student protests rocking Brazil by overseeing the design of new piece of software that will remove the question of race from the hands of fallible, human, prejudiced college administrators by adjudicating who does and doesn't warrant admittance as a non-white applicant under new affirmative-action quotas. Before he can come to grips with his feelings about this initiative, not to mention a budding romance with one of his committee colleagues, Federico is called home: his niece has just been arrested at a protest carrying a concealed gun. And not just any gun. A stolen police service revolver that he and Lourenço hid for a friend decades before. A gun used in a killing. Paulo Scott here probes the old wounds of race in Brazil, and in particular the loss of a black identity independent from the history of slavery. Exploratory rather than didactic, a story of crime, street-life and regret as much as a satirical novel of ideas, Phenotypes is a seething masterpiece of rage and reconciliation." -- Amazon.com "Federico and Louren o are brothers. Their father is black, a famed forensic pathologist for the police; their mother is white. Federico--distant, angry, analytical--has light skin, which means he's always been able to avoid the worst of the racism Brazilian culture has to offer. He can "pass" as white, and yet, because of this, he has devoted his life to racial justice. Louren o, on the other hand, is dark-skinned, easygoing, and well-liked in the brothers' hometown of Porto Alegre--and has become a father himself. As Federico's fiftieth birthday looms, he joins a ludicrous yet chilling governmental committee in the capital. It is tasked with quelling the increasingly violent student protests rocking Brazil by overseeing the design of new piece of software that will remove the question of race from the hands of fallible, human, prejudiced college administrators by adjudicating who does and doesn't warrant admittance as a non-white applicant under new affirmative-action quotas. Before he can come to grips with his feelings about this initiative, not to mention a budding romance with one of his committee colleagues, Federico is called home: his niece has just been arrested at a protest carrying a concealed gun. And not just any gun. A stolen police service revolver that he and Louren o hid for a friend decades before. A gun used in a killing. Paulo Scott here probes the old wounds of race in Brazil, and in particular the loss of a black identity independent from the history of slavery. Exploratory rather than didactic, a story of crime, street-life and regret as much as a satirical novel of ideas, Phenotypes is a seething masterpiece of rage and reconciliation." -- Federico and Loreno are brothers. Their father is black, a famed forensic pathologist for the police; their mother is white. Federico distant, angry, analytical has light skin, which means hes always been able to avoid the worst of the racism Brazilian culture has to offer. He can pass as white, and yet, because of this, he has devoted his life to racial justice. Loreno, on the other hand, is dark-skinned, easy-going, and well-liked in the brothers hometown of Porto Alegreand has become a father himself. As Federicos fiftieth birthday looms, he joins a governmental committee in the capital. It is tasked with quelling the increasingly violent student protests rocking Brazil by overseeing the design of a piece of software that will adjudicate the degree to which each university applicant is sufficiently black to warrant admittance under new affirmative-action quotas. Before he can come to grips with his feelings about this initiative, not to mention a budding romance with one of his committee colleagues, Federico is called home: his niece has just been arrested at a protest carrying a concealed gun. And not just any gun. A stolen police service revolver that he and Loreno hid for a friend decades before. A gun used in a killing. Paulo Scott here probes the old wounds of race in Brazil, and in particular the loss of a black identity independent from the history of slavery. Exploratory rather than didactic, a story of crime, street-life and regret as much as a satirical novel of ideas, Phenotypes is a seething masterpiece of rage and reconciliation.

Paulo Scott’s second novel to appear in English probes the old wounds of race in Brazil; and in particular the loss of a black identity independent from the history of slavery. Exploratory rather than didactic; a story of crime; street-life; and regret as much as a satirical novel of ideas; Phenotypes is a seething masterpiece of rage and reconciliation.

Longlisted for the International Booker PrizeA smart and stylish account of the bigotry lurking in hearts and institutions alike