A Cup of Rage

Description

An erotic and intricate novella from one of the most enigmatic and important figures in Brazilian literature 'Yes, bastard, you're the one I love' A pair of lovers - a young female journalist and an older man who owns an isolated farm in the Brazilian outback - spend the night together. The next day they proceed to destroy each other. Amid vitriolic insults, cruelty and warring egos, their sexual adventure turns into a savage power game. This intense, erotic cult novel by one of Brazil's most infamous modernist writers explores alienation, the desire to dominate and the wish to be dominated. A New Translation by Stefan Tobler

Raduan Nassar (Author) Raduan Nassar was born in 1935, in Pindorama, in the state of S o Paulo, Brazil. He was raised mainly in small rural towns, then went on to study Law at the University of S o Paulo. Like his Lebanese immigrant family, the author's life has been bound in agriculture and writing. Ancient Tillage (1975) and A Cup of Rage (1978), a novella, are his two major literary works. He also worked as a journalist and editor for the newspaper Jornal do Bairro, jointly founded with his brothers. Although an acclaimed literary author, since 1985 Raduan Nassar has led a private existence dedicated to farming and livestock production. He retired to a smaller farm in 2011, having donated his entire commercial property to the agricultural departments of the Federal University of S o Carlos for the creation of a new campus.

If this country were grown-up enough to have a literary Good Sex award, this explosively erotic story from the Brazilian modernist would be a strong contender... A Cup of Rage is a burning coal of a work, superbly translated by Stefan Tobler. You may consider a book this short to be scarcely worthy of the name, but it packs more power into its scant 47 pages than most books do into five or 10 times as many. Each of its seven chapters comes not only as an unbroken paragraph but as a single sentence: you have to read carefully to keep track, and once you have finished you will want to read it again. The writing is chewy - dense, tough, but well worth the effort -- Nick Lezard The Guardian Raduan Nassar's work is both rare and transcendent. From the conflict between the couple in "A Cup of Rage" to the return of the prodigal son of an immigrant family in "Ancient Tillage", Nassar's narratives are dry, muscular - and when you least expect it, raise flight and achieve uncommonly lyrical plains. His books are like a land manually ploughed in a precise and essential way; there is not a single excessive word in either of them. His language sprouts up with force and expression; every word is an exposed nerve. -- Walter Salles One of the highest points of the Portuguese language of our time -- Folha de S. Paulo Raduan Nassar has created one of the most rare and incandescent books in contemporary Brazilian literature -- Leo Gilson Ribeiro Jornal da Tarde These are 70 pages full of wonderfully fiery and shrieking prose, to be quaffed off, hot, in one deep draught Frankfurter Rundschau A diagram of exciting prose about a loving relationship in his verbal outburst - a great book -- Peter Henning Die Weltwoche