This vital collection is as eclectic and electric as Brazil itself. These stories -- ranging from vignettes, sketches, and prose poems to traditional narratives -- cover a wide geography, physically, thematically, and stylistically. Tales of nature and magic, humor and tragedy, brutality and delicacy, sex and violence are played out against every corner of this vast and diverse land: the Amazon, the Northeast, the Central West, and the South, as well as in Brazil's two metropolises, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The earliest story, Machado de Assis' "The Wallet," was written at the end of the nineteenth century. The most recent were written especially for this book. Brazil is noted for its vibrant music and celebrations; this book shows an equally rich literary scene for the traveler or fan of world -- and world-class -- fiction.  (BZL83, $14.95)

Brazil