Unremembering Me (Brazilian Literature in Translation Series)

Inspired by his own family's struggles, as well as the broader sociopolitical and economic forces that shaped Brazil in the 1970s, Luiz Ruffato's epistolary novel, Unremembering Me, traces the story of the narrator's older brother. Leaving behind his parents and younger siblings in order to assume financial responsibility for his family, Célio, a young factory hand from Cataguases, Minas Gerais, goes to work in industrial São Paulo. His letters home convey details about his work, living situation, adjustments to urban life, and fierce homesickness, even as they point to growing political unrest under the military dictatorship and Célio's increasing participation as a union organizer.

Luiz Ruffato is an acclaimed Brazilian novelist, journalist, and poet. His 2001 novel, There Were Many Horses, was the recipient of the Brazilian National Library's Machado de Assis Award and the APCA Award for best novel. De mim já nem se lembra (Unremembering Me) was first published in Brazil in 2007. Marguerite Itamar Harrison is associate professor of Portuguese and Brazilian Studies at Smith College.