How can a man die more than once? In Gregory Rabassa's new translation of the short comic masterpiece The Double Death of Quincas Water-Bray, beloved Brazilian novelist Jorge Amado shows how.
The notorious scalawag Quincas Water-Bray was once an exemplary employee of the State Bureau of Revenue, but since retiring 10 years ago, though, he's been a shameless drunkard and gambler--the most thoroughgoing vagabond in Bahia. He dies with a smile of mockery on his face--and well he might, since his death is about to launch a party, a brawl and a sea catastrophe. To his family, he's an embarrassment, but to his friends, the people of the street, the loss of Quincas is a blow.
When his fickle family members go home to get some sleep, they entrust Quincas's body to his drinking buddies, who decide to honor their departed friend with a more appropriate send-off. No food? No flowers? No booze? They're quick to correct the situation--and then some.
As one darkly hilarious sequence escalates into another and yet another, upping the stakes deliriously, the drunk friends decide to take their dead buddy out for one last night on the town beneath the magic Bahia moon. It's a romp at the expense of death, but Amado never trivializes mortality even while delighting in the shenanigans of his colorful cast of lowlifes. With brilliant sleight of hand and deceptive simplicity, Amado's defiance of death in this frothy, heartfelt tale reveals the Brazilian master at his earthy, big-hearted best. --Nick DiMartino, Nick's Picks, University Book Store, Seattle