A Cup of Rage

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Longlisted for the Man Booker International Prize 
 
'A savagely short novel of immeasurable ambition and violent beauty. This is the language of genius.' Juan Pablos Villalobos 
 
'How often, honestly, does the unveiling in translation of a 'forgotten genius' live up to the hype? Well here's one that does: Raduan Nassar' Times Literary Supplement 
 
'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

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....The writing is chewy - dense, tough, but well worth the effort

'How often, honestly, does the unveiling in translation of a 'forgotten genius' live up to the hype? Well here's one that does: Raduan Nassar

The book contains much: rich inner monologue, political allusions and a mesmerising pull between dominance and insolence in lovers' quarrels

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.

One of the highest points of the Portuguese language of our time

Raduan Nassar has created one of the most rare and incandescent books in contemporary Brazilian literature

These are 70 pages full of wonderfully fiery and shrieking prose, to be quaffed off, hot, in one deep draught

A diagram of exciting prose about a loving relationship in his verbal outburst - a great book

'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

Karen Sotelino

Raduan Nassar became a sensation with his first novel. Now published in English, the world will come knocking.

One of the most important novels in Brazilian literature

Nassar's book is a masterwork, a rare exception in a constantly levelling out literature business

While reading, and marveling at, Ancient Tillage and A Cup of Rage -- both of them set on farms in the Brazilian outback, both of them stylistically bold achievements -- we are struck by two other feelings: disappointment that Nassar wrote so little, and disbelief that it took so long to render his unique voice into English.

'I felt the powerful strength of my family overrunning me like a heavy rush of water' 
 
For André, a young man growing up on a farm in Brazil, life consists of 'the earth, the wheat, the bread, our table and our family'. He loves the land, fears his austere, pious father who preaches from the head of the table as if it is a pulpit, and loathes himself, as he starts to harbour shameful feelings for his sister Ana. Lyrical and sensual, told with biblical intensity, this classic Brazilian coming-of-age novel follows André's psychological and sexual awakening, as he must choose between body and soul, duty and freedom.

Raduan Nassar

Praise for Ancient Tillage

Raduan Nassar became a sensation with his first novel. Now published in English, the world will come knocking.

One of the most important novels in Brazilian literature

Nassar's book is a masterwork, a rare exception in a constantly levelling out literature business

Raduan Nassar became a sensation with his first novel. Now published in English, the world will come knocking.

One of the most important novels in Brazilian literature

Nassar's book is a masterwork, a rare exception in a constantly levelling out literature business

Raduan Nassar became a sensation with his first novel. Now published in English, the world will come knocking.

One of the most important novels in Brazilian literature

Nassar's book is a masterwork, a rare exception in a constantly levelling out literature business

Books by Raduan Nassar

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