Book Trailers
Listen to excerpts from works by Moacyr Scliar, such as “The Centaur in the Garden,” “The One-Man Army,” “Max and the Cats,” and “The Water Cycle,” narrated by actors José Mauro Brant and Mirna Spritzer.
The War in Bom Fim
Read by Mirna Spritzer
Joel is the protagonist of this novel that mixes realism and fantasy. He recalls his childhood as a Jewish boy living with his family in Porto Alegre in the 1940s, in the heart of the Bom Fim neighborhood, the Jewish quarter of the capital of Rio Grande do Sul.
The Centaur in the Garden
Read by José Mauro Brant
In an inland town of Rio Grande do Sul, in the quiet home of the Tratskovsky family, a centaur is born: a creature half man, half horse. His name is Guedali, the fourth child of a couple of Russian-Jewish immigrants.
The Woman Who Wrote the Bible
Read by Mirna Spritzer
Fictional account of an anonymous woman who, three thousand years ago, becomes the author of the first version of the Bible. A mischievous narrative that alternates between biblical diction and vulgar language.
The One-Man Army
Read bv José Mauro Brant
Scliar creates a definitive character, Captain Birobidjan, a fearless hero of a new world, an ardent preacher of utopias, a lonely and hopeful navigator in a sea of indifference.
Max and the Cats
Read by Mirna Spritzer
Max and the Cats, originally published in 1981, is a charming fable about immigration and freedom. The book gained notoriety after the author was quoted in a newspaper as saying that the bestseller Life of Pi was partly plagiarized from it.
Manual of the Solitary Passion
Read by José Mauro Brant
Chapter 38 of the Book of Genesis tells the strange story of the patriarch Judah, his three sons Er, Onan, and Shelah, and the young and beautiful Tamar, who became involved with all of them.
The Carnival of the Animals
Read by Mirna Spritzer
Moacyr Scliar’s short stories use suggestions from everyday life, closely linked to the experiences of both the writer and his readers. Most of the stories are set in Porto Alegre.
I Embrace You, All of You
Read by Mauro Brant
Determined to join the Communist Party, Valdo opens the gates of the ranch and sets out into the world. With few possessions and almost no money, he secretly boards a train to Rio de Janeiro.
I Embrace You, All of You
Read by José Mauro Brant
Determined to join the Communist Party, Valdo opens the gates of the ranch and sets out into the world. With few possessions and almost no money, he secretly boards a train to Rio de Janeiro.
The Water Cycle
Read by Mirna Spritzer
In the saga of Esther, the prostitute, tragedy and small joys intersect. Women brought from Europe under various pretexts, only to be forced to prostitute themselves in the cabarets of America.
Text or Life – I
Read by José Mauro Brant
This work combines autobiography, exploring the parallel choices of a career in medicine and the car accident that nearly took his life, with an anthology of his significant moments as a novelist, short story writer, and columnist.
Text or Life – II
Read by José Mauro Brant
This work combines autobiography, exploring the parallel choices of a career in medicine and the car accident that nearly took his life, with an anthology of his significant moments as a novelist, short story writer, and columnist.
Text or Life – III
Read by José Mauro Brant
This work combines autobiography, exploring the parallel choices of a career in medicine and the car accident that nearly took his life, with an anthology of his significant moments as a novelist, short story writer, and columnist.
Text or Life - IV
Leitura de José Mauro Brant
This work combines autobiography, exploring the parallel choices of a career in medicine and the car accident that nearly took his life, with an anthology of his significant moments as a novelist, short story writer, and columnist.
Text or Life – V
Leitura de José Mauro Brant
This work combines autobiography, exploring the parallel choices of a career in medicine and the car accident that nearly took his life, with an anthology of his significant moments as a novelist, short story writer, and columnist.
The Hidden Face
Read by Mirna Spritzer
From his column in Zero Hora, where he portrays the universe of medical practice – a world full of mythologies, discoveries, fears, and triumphs – the author sheds light on the often heroic but obscure areas of doctors’ actions and patients’ anguish.
The Poetry of Simple Things
Read by José Mauro Brant
The book brings together 82 chronicles written between October 1977 and November 2010. Organized and introduced by Regina Zilberman, it is divided into three main sections: “Readings, Books, and Literature,” “People and Characters,” and “Other Stories.”
The Majesty of the Xingu
Read by Mirna Spritzer
The destinies of Indigenous people and immigrants, generals and communists, merchants and intellectuals intertwine in this fast-paced and humorous narrative that bounces between Brazil’s great conflicts and the problems of family relationships.
The Land of Emotions
Read by José Mauro Brant
This collection of chronicles continues the publishing project of the Companhia das Letras to present a significant sample of the chronicles written by Moacyr Scliar during more than thirty years of collaboration with the newspaper Zero Hora in Porto Alegre.
My Son, the Doctor
Read by Mirna Spritzer
Why are so many doctors Jewish? Where does the historical connection between Judaism and medicine come from? Moacyr Scliar sought answers to these questions in history, literature, and, of course, in famous Jewish humor.
O Olhar
The Medical View
Read by Mirna Spritzer
Moacyr Scliar’s two public personas, that of a doctor and that of a writer, merge in this book. The chronicles combine the wisdom and experience of a doctor with the fluid and elegant style of a writer, without forgetting the traditional touches of humor and irony that characterize his texts.
The Merchants of the Temple
Read by Mirna Spritzer
The expulsion of the merchants from the Temple of Jerusalem, recounted in a few lines in the Gospel of Saint Matthew, serves as the starting point for an original narrative that unfolds over three time periods: 33 A.D., 1635, and our own time.
Tales and Chronicles to Read in School
Read by Mirna Spritzer
The power and eloquence of the writings selected for this anthology bring readers closer to one of the greatest “urban storytellers” in Brazilian fiction.
The Strange Nation of Rafael Mendes
Read by Mirna Spritzer
As readers immerse themselves in this fascinating story, they will enter the magical world of Moacyr Scliar’s fiction. And, guided by the brilliant storyteller, they will stroll through time in the dizzying saga of the Mendes family.
Tropical Dreams
Read by Mirna Spritzer
This is a novel about Oswaldo Cruz, who was responsible for introducing scientific control of epidemics in Brazil and played a key role in the Vaccine Revolt. It offers an accurate diagnosis of a society that, hampered by poverty and backwardness, reluctantly opens itself to modernity.
The Transformation of Passion
Read by Mirna Spritzer
In this book, Moacyr Scliar collects and comments on excerpts from texts that have recorded opinions and facts about illness and healing throughout history.
Medical Scenes
Read by Mirna Spritzer
The book proves to be highly original, combining, in an inspired way, two paths: that of medicine, in the struggle against suffering, disease, and death, and that of medical student in the pursuit of knowledge.
The Volunteers
Read by Mirna Spritzer
One night, an old and rickety tugboat leaves a dock in Porto Alegre. Its crew consists of four men, one woman and a dying man. The destination: the port of Haifa. The purpose of the voyage: to allow the dying man to see the city of Jerusalem before he dies.
Saturn in the Tropics
Read by Mirna Spritzer
A book that delves into literature, the visual arts, medicine, and politics to paint a comprehensive picture of the history of melancholy and its impact on Brazilian culture.
