Majnun lives his life online in his grandparents' well-appointed home in the Brazilian capital. No school, no work--just bored in Brasilia. After falling in love with a married woman, however, he flees to Madrid with friends, intent on, well . . . something. Writing a historical novel about medieval Spain? Or perhaps converting to Islam and heading to North Africa? As Majnun floats through the crowds of Catholics, through encounters with legitimate medievalists, through romances, friendships, mosques, and palaces, his vague interests threaten to boil over into violent, even deadly action.

Saga of Brutes draws together three confronting and darkly comic stories: Between Dog Fights and Hog Slaughter, The Dirty Work of Others, and carbo animalis, published in one volume for the first time. Ana Paula Maia s no-holds barred narrative pulls few punches, describing a shocking reality of the lives of the invisible workingmen who, like Atlas, are forced to carry society s burdens. These heroes of vile circumstance coal miners, firemen, garbage collectors, crematorium workers are the soot-covered supermen who risk their lives performing difficult and dangerous work for others....

The Lady of Solitude projects a fresh and daring new voice on to the Brazilian literary scene. These transgressive and highly charged erotic stories are all written from a woman's point of view and they offer an unexpected perspective on the world, sex and desire in a changing Brazilian and global context. That is not to say that all of Parisot's characters are strong, emancipated and resolute: they just live in a world where relationships of all kinds have changed. Avowedly a disciple of the famous detective writer Rubem Fonseca, Paula Parisot adds a new and sinister twist to crimes...