Synopses & Reviews
Driving home, Paulo passes an indigenous girl standing by the roadand gives her a lift to her family's roadside camp.
From São Paulo's rich kids and the Guarani Indians camped along Brazil's highways to a squatter's life in London, Nowhere People is a raw, passionate, and prize-winning Brazilian novel about our need for a home.
Paulo Scott was born in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 1966 and grew up in a working class area. At university, Scott was an active member of the student political movement and he took part in Brazil's re-democratization process. He also translates from English.
Review
"A powerful, complex and very ambitious voice. In the contemporary Latin American literature scene, Paulo Scott is a must-read." Juan Pablo Villalobos, author of
Down the Rabbit Hole and
Quesadillas"Nowhere People highlights issues faced by indigenous Brazilians." The Herald (Glasgow)
"One of Scotts many merits is to show daring, on many levels. Scott is not afraid to create one of the most interesting voices in recent fiction. And that is the voice of a Guarani Indian girl. Maína is far from the stereotypes of the 'noble savage' that orientate our literature and culture. Maína speaks." O Globo
"Immensely powerful. [...] This novel tackles post-dictatorship Brazilian ideologies better than anything else in fiction." O Estado de São Paulo
"Nowhere People is an inexhaustible font of surprises that the authors firm hand manages to harmonize." Rascunho
"Nowhere People is not your average book." Folha de São Paulo
"Stands out not just through its confrontation with its subject matter, but through Scotts particular style of writing
Nowhere People is an uncomfortable and strangely brilliant social history of post-dictatorship Brazil, chronicling the young lefts fears after the honeymoon period of civilian rule, alongside the continuing prejudices against its indigenous tribes." David Faulds, The Literateur
"A lush postmodern spin on the intergenerational state-of-the-nation saga... Daniel Hahn's translation of this somersaulting, playful, emotionally pummelling and occasionally oblique novel is, one assumes, a feat of ventriloquism and linguistic plate-spinning: Nowhere People weighs in at only 300 pages, but contains multitudes." Booktrust
"An introduction, through [protagonist] Paulo's eyes, to the complex issues surrounding race and class in modern day Brazil. Post-World Cup 2014, the details here feel particularly resonant." Maria-Luisa Meredith, Buzz (Wales)
"It is powerfully but sympathetically written, with an engaging cast of characters. Another fascinating work from the crowd funded house of And Other Stories." Journal of the Law Society of Scotland
"This raw and passionate tale set in Brazil about love, loss and family explores the sharply contrasting worlds of Sao Paulos wealthy young people and the people of the dispossessed Guarani tribe
a classic in the making." The National, Abu Dhabi
"Embodiment of the complex relationship between upper-middle-class politics and impoverished, indigenous culture" Kirkus
"Paulo Scott is one of the best novelists of his generation and is going to surprise us in the future. Of all the novels of the last five years, I really love Nowhere People. It is one hell of a book." João Gilberto Noll, Posfácio
"[A] literary hand-grenade...a series of meditations on revolution, on homes, and on love in the form of an energetic and wide-flung story tracking two people and the lives they collide with." Brooklyn Rail
"The And Other Stories machine often seems unstoppable. Like Marvel Studios, they have reached a point where their brand seems to almost guarantee success. It would be easy, then, for them to rest on their laurels and start pumping stuff out. Fortunately, this doesn't seem to be the case....Nowhere People is a novel that, the moment you put it down, demands to be reread". Matt Todd, A Novel Approach
"Nowhere People is a provocative and interesting read, and feels timely given the focus on corruption and waste in Brazilian politics after the World Cup protests
Overall, this is another great release from And Other Stories." Thom Cuell, workshyfop
"The major achievement is the creation of the character and voice of Maína, the young girl who is deracinated by her encounters with Western civilisation. The other achievement is that skill with which Scott retains our attention and interest in the two, across decades and continents against a background of post-dictatorship Brazil and Thatcher-ruled London. It is the ultimate expression of everyones need for a real home." Michael Johnston, Akanos
Nowhere People is, I think, an exceptional book. It's a clever, thoughtful, beautifully written, perceptive telling of a story that hasn't been told before. (I hope you'll read it when it's out and I hope you'll agree.)” Asymptote
"An audacious story, the novel fizzes with anger" Richard Lea, The Guardian
"Contemporary Brazil is kaleidoscopically diverse, and Scott takes up the messy human dramas that ensue when these disparate worlds collide in todays hyperconnected, mobile society."Adam Morris, TLS
"Scott writes with a fitful, kinetic energy, even a certain fury, as his novel leapfrogs between Brazilian social classes ... A revolutionary new work of Brazilian literature
The books translation, by Daniel Hahn, is in itself a wondrous feat." Words Without Borders
"Original as well as reminiscent of the modernist masters. It seems Scott is keen to communicate the overwhelming emotions and unsettledness that preoccupy his characters...There is a strong sense of authenticity as the intrinsic connection between the author and his protagonists shines through. Despite cool, polite detachment the story is not without blood and guts. In fact, political argument and passion are well balanced. Overall, this novel is highly engaging, heartfelt and beautifully written." Writers' Hub
"Nowhere People by Paulo Scott (And Other Stories) stands way out among the books I read in 2014. Its the kind of novel you read and already look forward to reading it again although it makes such a painful read
a great example of the possibility of political engagement through literature, a reminder of one of the worst crimes in the history of mankind, the crime of displacing and annihilating indigenous people around the globe. Read this if you dont mind crying." Alexandra Büchler, director of Literature Across Frontiers, for PEN Atlas
"Short, shocking, lyrical, and very modern novel, Nowhere People is one of 2014's most exciting releases in any language
bold, fragmentary, funny and sad, it reproduces the texture of contemporary life with irony and love, and deals with the last two decades of the twentieth century in a way that's all about the twenty-first." Booktrust
Synopsis
A prize-winning novel expresses the complexities of race, class and relationships and gives voice and visibility to an indigenous Brazilian
Synopsis
Driving home, law student Paulo passes a figure at the side of the road. The indigenous girl stands in the heavy rain, as if waiting for something. Paulo gives her a lift to her family's roadside camp.
Through sudden shifts in the characters' lives, this novel takes in the whole story: telling of love, loss and family, it spans the worlds of Sao Paulo's rich kids and dispossessed Guarani Indians along Brazil's highways. One man escapes into an immigrant squatter's life in London, while another's performance activism leads to unexpected fame on Youtube.
Written from the gut,
Nowhere People is a raw and passionate classic in the making about our need for a home. It won the 2012 Machado de Assis Prize, awarded by the Brazilian National Library, and was shortlisted for a number of other major Brazilian prizes, including the Portugal Telecom, the Jabuti, the Sao Paulo Literature and Bravo prizes.
Paulo Scott was born in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 1966 and grew up in a working class area. At university, Scott was an active member of the student political movement and he took part in Brazil's re-democratization process. He also translates from English.
Synopsis
Winner of the Machado de Assis Prize
Driving home, law student Paulo passes a figure at the side of the road. The indigenous girl stands in the heavy rain, as if waiting for something. Paulo gives her a lift to her family's roadside camp.
With sudden shifts in the characters' lives, this novel takes in the whole story: telling of love, loss and family, it spans the worlds of S o Paulo's rich kids and dispossessed Guarani Indians along Brazil's highways. One man escapes into an immigrant squatter's life in London, while another's performance activism leads to unexpected fame on Youtube.
Written from the gut, it is a raw and passionate classic in the making, about our need for a home.
About the Author
Paulo Scott: Paulo Scott was born in Porto Alegre, in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, in 1966 and grew up in a working class area. At university, Scott was an active member of the student political movement and he took part in Brazils re-democratisation process. He also translates from English.
Daniel Hahn: Daniel Hahn is a writer, editor and translator. His translations (from Spanish, Portuguese and French) include José Eduardo Agualusa's The Book of Chameleons, which won him the 2007 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize.