4.0 

Exemplary Humans

By Juliana Leite & Zoë Perry &
Exemplary Humans by Juliana Leite & Zoë Perry &  digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

JULIANA LEITE MAKES HER ENGLISH-LANGUAGE DEBUT WITH A NOVEL ABOUT ONE WOMAN’S PAST AND ALL OF OUR FUTURES

Ever since the unnamed threat took over, 100-year-old Natália has been stuck inside her Rio de Janeiro apartment, alone. Well, not entirely alone—her loved ones may be gone but they never really left her, plus she’s pretty sure there’s a spy watching her every move through the window.

As she waits for the daily call from her daughter who lives halfway across the world, the old woman revisits scenes from her life. There’s her husband Vicente who obsessively erased maps of Brazil; her best friend Sarah, the cookie seller; Jorge who gave tarot readings for both humans and birds; and the comrades who joined her in resisting Brazil’s dictatorship, at least until they were forced into hiding. Exemplary Humans is an ambitious novel about the quirks of memory and the delights and horror of aging.

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Exemplary Humans Reviews

4.0
“exemplary humans was such a poignant and kind examination of aging. the portrait of the old woman, nathalia, was not infantilizing (which is how much media portrays the elderly), but an intimate portrayal of a complete human, in all her flaws and quirks and loves. i thought the style was incredibly strong and the prose and almost stream of consciousness format mirrored the mental state of this literal 100 year old woman. however, at times i found the translation to be kind of clunky and there were strange moments where the narrative switched from 3rd person to 1st person for no apparent reason and it didn’t add anything impactful and wasn’t consistent enough to seem like a stylistic choice, which just ended up being confusing. but overall, this is a lovely read and i would thoroughly recommend it”

About Juliana Leite

Juliana Leite is a Brazilian writer based in São Paulo. Her work has been published in Italy, France, Portugal, the UK, and the US, appearing in The Paris Review, the French newspaper Libération, and many Brazilian magazines. She’s been awarded the O. Henry Prize for the story “My Good Friend” and is the first Brazilian writer to ever achieve the distinction; the story was optioned for film. Her previous works have been shortlisted for and awarded many prizes in Brazil, including the Critics’ Choice for best novel with her debut book, also optioned for film. Juliana has been a fellow  at Art Omi, Ucross Foundation, and Hawthornden Foundation.

Zoë Perry

Zoë Perry has translated the work of several contemporary Brazilian authors, including Juliana Leite, Veronica Stigger, Clara Drummond, Carol Bensimon and Ana Paula Maia. Her translations have appeared in the New Yorker, Granta, the New York Times, and The Paris Review. Born and raised in southeastern Kentucky, she is currently based in Miami.

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