PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY
Machado De Assis, the grandson of ex-slaves, was born in Rio de Janeiro and wrote Philosopher or Dog?, among other novels and short-story collections. MARGARET JULL COSTA is a three-time winner of the Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize. For New Directions, she has translated works by Rafael Chirbes, Javier Marias, Fernando Pessoa, Eca de Queiros, and Enrique Vila-Matas. Robin Patterson has translated Luandino Vieira and lives in England.
To Machado, your identity and the contours of your world are formed not just by your circumstances but by what you think about habitually. You are what you contemplate, so choose wisely. These stories are a spectacular place to start. -- The New York Times
