Luís Fernando Veríssimo (–2025)

Quantas vezes você mente por dia? Calma, não precisa responder agora. Também não é sempre que você conta uma mentira, só de vez em quando. Na verdade, quando você mente, é porque precisa. Para proteger o outro e, de preferência, a outra. Foi assim com a mãe, a namorada, a mulher, a sogra. Tudo pelo bom convívio social, pela harmonia dentro de casa, para uma noite mais agradável com os amigos. Você só mente, no fundo, para poupar as pessoas e, sobretudo, para o bem das show more mulheres. Luis Fernando Verissimo, este observador bem-humorado do cotidiano brasileiro, reúne em As mentiras que os homens contam um repertório divertido de histórias assim ― tão indispensáveis que, de repente, viram até verdades. Depende de quem ouve. Depende de quem conta. show less

I really enjoyed this unusual little book. The story is narrated by Daniel, one of 10 members of the Beef Stew Club, an elitist gourmand club created by a group of childhood friends from Brazil's wealthy, uppercrust families. After 20 years of monthly gatherings to feast on gastronomic delights, and two years after the death of the club's chef and spiritual leader Ramos from AIDS, the club is on the brink of disbanding. In a wine shop, Daniel encounters Lucido, a cook with a mysterious, show more taciturn manner, who offers to recreate the member's favorite dishes, to give them a gastronomic thrill like no other. What follows from this offer is a tale of bewilderment and death as a member of the Beef Stew Club dies at the end of each monthly feast Lucido creates.

This intriguing book is more like a murder mystery told in reverse and a morbid satire of the sins of gluttony. It is the whys behind the murders that makes this story such a fascinating read, along with the outrageous characters and dialogue.

Overall, quite a good tale! show less

E se foi o grande Luis Fernando Veríssimo, um dos grandes ídolos da minha adolescência e um mestre nas narrativas curtas de humor.
Estava ensaiando, depois de muitos anos, a reler seus textos sobre o Analista de Bagé desde que me tornei eu mesma analista, já preconizando que ficariam ainda mais divertidos depois disso. Dito e feito, o absurdismo das estórias soam ainda mais engraçadas, especialmente para quem já passou por certos analistas chucros, em que cada intervenção é um show more coice, mas nada comparável ao cidadão de Bagé.
Só vou me policiar para não começar a chamar meus pacientes de bagual. Rá! show less

The narrator of this short book, Daniel, is a member of a very exclusive society of gourmands: He and nine other men regularly meet at each other's houses to feast on the most delicious, exotic, flavorful meals they can create. The club hasn't met recently due to some bad blood between the members, but then Daniel meets the mysterious chef Lucídio, who agrees to cook for them. The club members all converge on Daniel's apartment and are delighted to find that Lucídio's cooking is the best show more they've ever tasted. But then one of the guests mysteriously dies the next day -- and the meal Lucídio had prepared was that guest's favorite dish. The club continues to hold more dinners, and another member dies after each one. Yet for some reason, Daniel and his friends can't resist experiencing these exquisitely perfect meals, even with the knowledge that each bite could be their last.

From the moment I read the epigraph of this creepy little novel, I was hooked: "All desire is a desire for death. -- A possible Japanese maxim." Verissimo wasn't being lazy in his attribution; the saying is actually referenced in the novel, and it highlights Daniel's unreliability as a narrator. From the start, he warns us that he might be making up the whole story, and then he goes on to give a brief philosophy of the detective novel. So you'll know within the first two pages whether you'll like this book or not; I thought it was weird and thought-provkoking and very good! My library shelves it in the mystery section, which doesn't make sense to me, since "whodunit" is clear from the outset (well, kind of). But watching the motives slowly unfold was interesting and surprisingly suspenseful. I should also point out that this book is set in Brazil, and the main characters are a great microcosm of Brazilian society. I enjoyed this book a lot and would definitely recommend it, as well as Verissimo's other novel, Borges and the Eternal Orangutans. show less