São Paulo Noir
Edited by Tony Bellotto

A bottle of whisky filled with violence, prostitution, mystery, kidnapping and death. São Paulo Noir, is part of the Akashic Noir, short story, anthology book series that includes over one hundred book titles. Each book is set in a major city around the globe. This time we have twelve stories edited by Tony Bellotto and written by Brazilian authors that take place in the darkest corners of São Paulo, Brazil. 

Take for example Vanessa Barbara's story, Cross Contamination, where a hotel chambermaid discovers a dead man in one of the rooms, with a corkscrew jabbed in his throat, and finds herself putting the pieces of the murder together. Or Ferréz's story, Flow, of a poor underaged prostitute who finds herself in a very uncomfortable and vulnerable situation. Will she survive?

São Paulo Noir is a place without damsels nor heroes, where everyone is left to fend on their own against the darker side of society. It is a story collection that brings forth an obscure and exotic world of plot twists and vices—brothels, drugs, outsiders, cheaters and criminals, where only the most cunning and resilient survive. 

Tony Bellotto was born in São Paulo in 1960 and has lived in Rio de Janeiro for over twenty years. Guitarist and songwriter for the Titãs (Titans), a Brazilian rock band, Tony's literary debut was the novel Bellini e a esfinge in 1955. Since 1999, he has hosted Afinando a língua, a television program focused on literature and music.

Stories by: Tony Belloto, Olivia Maia, Marcelino Freire, Beatriz Bracher & Maria S. Carvalhosa, Fernando Bonassi, Marcelo Rubens Paiva, Marçal Aquino, Jô Soares, Mario Prata, Ferréz, Vanessa Barbara, Ilana Casoy, and Drauzio Varella. 

São Paulo Noir is a publication by Akashic Books. Click here to purchase.
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Reviewed by
Gerald A. Padilla
​6/23/2018

Gerald A. Padilla (Los Angeles, CA) is founder and director of Latino Book Review, founder of Jade Publishing, founder of the Festival Internacional de Poesía Latinoamericana (FEIPOL), founder of Latin American Foundation for the Arts. He is co-author of the first children's book in Náhuatl in the U.S., Noyolkanyolkej.

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