The Last Will and Testament of Senhor Da Silva Araujo (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780811215657)

Everyone in Cape Verde knew Senhor da Silva Ara仼o. Successful entrepeneur, owner of the island's first automobile, a most serious, upright, and self-made businessman, Senhor da Silva Ara仼o was the local success story. Born an orphan, he never married, he never splurged--one good suit was good enough for him--and he never wandered from the straight and narrow. Or so everyone thought.But when his 387-page Last Will and Testament is read aloud--a marathon task on a hot afternoon which exhausts reader after reader--there is shocking news, and not just for the smug nephew so certain of inheriting all of Senhor da Silva Ara仼o's property.In his will, Senhor da Silva Ara仼o has left a memoir that is a touching web of elaborate self-deceptions. He desired so ardently to prosper, to be taken seriously, and to join (perhaps, if they would have him) the exclusive Gr駑io country club. But most of all, he wanted to be a good man. And yet, shady deals, twists of fate, an illegitimate child: such is the lot of poor, self-critical Senhor da Silva Ara仼o. A bit like Calvino's Mr. Palomar in his attention to protocol and in his terror of life's passions; a bit like Svevo's Zeno (a little pompous, a little old-fashioned, and often hapless), Senhor da Silva Ara仼o moves along a deliciously blurry line between farce and tragedy: a self-important buffoon becomes fully human, even tragic, figure in the arc of this wonderful novel--translated into Spanish, German, French, Italian, Dutch Norwegian, and Swedish, and now, at last, English.

Author: Germano Almeida, Sheila Faria Glaser
ISBN-10: 0811215652
ISBN-13: 9780811215657
Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation
Language: English
Published: 07/17/2004
Pages: 152
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.39lbs
Size: 7.98h x 5.24w x 0.49d

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 06/01/2004 pg. 503
PW Notes and Reprints 06/14/2004 pg. 45
Publishers Weekly 06/14/2004