Brazil is the largest and arguably the most dynamic country in South America. Each of the myriad cultures is so distinct that it would be impossible to characterize Brazil with one voice. Here is a collection of nearly forty stories drawn from all corners of that vast land, inlcuding the Amazon and its two dominant cities, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

Avoiding the pitfalls of a scholarly tome, Brazil is eclectic and electric. Found in jungle, sea, and city are nature and magic, humor and tragedy, kindness and brutality, sex and passions of all sorts. The oldest story was written at the end of the nineteenth century. The newest stories, by Moacyr Scliar, Pena Cabreira, and Paula Parisot, were written especially for this collection. Some of the greatest figures of Brazilian modern fiction are represented—such as Machado de Assis, Jorge Amado, Clarice Lispector, Simões Lopes Neto, Dalton Trevisan, and Rubem Fonseca—but this collection also includes relative newcomers. All of the tales included carry a punch.

Brazilians are free spirits who revere pleasure and celebrate individualism through their arts, customs, and everyday lives. Transport yourself to this colorful country by way of its best short fiction.

Whereabouts Press is an independent publisher of books that convey a sense of a place—a country, a region, a city—through stories. Unlike guidebooks written by professional travel writers, Travelers Literary Companions feature stories written by literary writers—all of whom are native to the places they write about. They didn’t write specifically for travelers. They wrote because they had good stories to tell. And their stories tell us not just about people, but about the soul of a place.