Picture of author.

José Eduardo Agualusa

Author of The Book of Chameleons

74 Works 1,731 Members 66 Reviews 2 Favorited

About the Author

José Eduardo Agualusa was born on December 13, 1960 in Huambo, Angola. He studied agronomy and silviculture in Lison, Portugal. He has worked as a journalist for the Portuguese magazine LER, the Brazilian newspaper O Globo, and the Angolan portal Rede Angola. He is also the host of a radio program show more A Horas das Cigarras on the RDP Africa channel. He is an award-winning writer whose work has been translated into multiple languages. Those translated to English include Creole, winner of the Portuguese Grand Prize for Literature; The Book of Chameleons, which won the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize; My father's wives, and Rainy Season. He has written four plays W generation, O monologo, Chovem amores na Rua do Matador (written with Mia Couto), and A Caixa Preta (written with Mia Couto). His work also includes novellas, short stories, and poetry. His recent novels include A educacao sentimental dos passaros, A Vida no Ceu, and A Rainha Ginga, and a book of short stories O Livro dos Camaleoes. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Works by José Eduardo Agualusa

The Book of Chameleons (2004) 475 copies
A General Theory of Oblivion (2012) 432 copies
My Father's Wives (2008) 113 copies
Creole (1997) 98 copies
Rainy Season (1996) 56 copies
Barroco Tropical (2009) 53 copies
A Vida no Céu (2013) 35 copies
Um estranho em Goa (2000) 28 copies
Milagrário Pessoal (2010) 25 copies
A Conjura (1989) 19 copies
Fronteiras Perdidas (1999) 18 copies
A girafa que comia estrelas (2005) 16 copies
Estranhões & Bizarrocos (2000) 14 copies
A feira dos assombrados (1992) 14 copies
Catálogo de Sombras (2003) 9 copies
The Living and the Rest (2023) 9 copies
Nação Crioula 8 copies
Passageiros Em Transito (2008) 7 copies
Os Vivos e os Outros (2020) 6 copies
Naçao Crioula (2017) 4 copies
O lugar do morto (2011) 3 copies
Um Pai em Nascimento (2010) 3 copies
Contos (2010) 3 copies
Contos que Contam — Author — 2 copies
Estação das Chuvas (2007) 2 copies
遗忘通论 2 copies
Rainha Dos Estapafúrdios (2012) 2 copies
LA REINA GINGA (2019) 2 copies
Emergencia (2000) 2 copies
Opća teorija zaborava (2016) 1 copy
Nweti e o Mar (2011) 1 copy
The Book of Chameleons (2022) 1 copy
A Conjura 1 copy
Prodavač minulostí (2020) 1 copy
Regentijd 1 copy

Tagged

Common Knowledge

Birthdate
1960-12-13
Gender
male
Nationality
Angola
Birthplace
Huambo, Angola
Places of residence
Lisbon, Portugal
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Brazil
Angola
Organizations
União dos Escritores Angolanos
Short biography
José Eduardo Agualusa è nato, nel 1960, a Huambo in Angola e oggi vive tra Lisbona, Rio de Janeiro e Luanda. Giornalista ed editore, è soprattutto l'autore di alcuni tra i romanzi più apprezzati negli ultimi anni dai lettori portoghesi e brasiliani. Le sue opere, alcune delle quali saranno presto adattate per il cinema, sono state tradotte nelle principali lingue europee. In Italia, La Nuova Frontiera ha già pubblicato il romanzo Quando Zumbi prese Rio.

Members

Reviews

Excellent and weird; I couldn't put it down. A portrayal of connectedness, and the Angolan Civil War, told from the perspective of a woman who stayed inside for the whole thing.
 
Flagged
capnfabs | 17 other reviews | Mar 9, 2024 |
So, this was the book I could find in my library, for the Africa Lusaphone challenge. It's short, literary, narrated by a gecko who somehow represents Jorge Luis Borges. The gecko is telling the story of an Angolan who makes a living selling fake family histories to people who want a more upscale genealogy.

Now that I have read it, I remember reading someone else's review, here on LT, and thinking that it sounded too strange and literary for me, so I would skip it. It turns out that was right, but it is very well written, so if you are more literary than me, or a Borges fan, I bet you'd like it.… (more)
½
 
Flagged
banjo123 | 26 other reviews | Feb 26, 2023 |
Reason Read: African Novel Challenge. This was written by José Eduardo Agualusa. He is currently living in Mozambique but was born in Angola. He is a journalist of Portuguese descent. This book covers the period of independence in Angola. A woman locks herself in her own room in her apartment. She cuts herself off from the external world. Written in the author's native language of Portuguese, it was translated into English by Daniel Hahn in 2015. The novel appeared on the short-list for the 2016 Man Booker International Prize, losing to The Vegetarian. The novel was the recipient of the 2017 International Dublin Literary Award. I really liked the book and I think I like it better than the Vegetarian.… (more)
 
Flagged
Kristelh | 17 other reviews | Feb 16, 2023 |
Narrated by the Chameleon we are witness to a maker of improved pasts and a client who needs an entirely new identity but still is entangled in his own past in Angola's struggle for independence. Strange but not off-putting.
½
 
Flagged
quondame | 26 other reviews | Feb 12, 2023 |

Lists

Awards

You May Also Like

Associated Authors

Statistics

Works
74
Members
1,731
Popularity
#14,850
Rating
3.9
Reviews
66
ISBNs
187
Languages
16
Favorited
2

Charts & Graphs