Synopses & Reviews
A startling and inspirational work of transgender fiction by a leading figure in Brazil's "New Urban" fiction movement.
Armando is one of the most renowned therapists in São Paulo. One of his patients, a 17-year-old boy by the name of Sergio, abruptly interrupts his course of therapy after a trip to New York. Sergio's cursory explanation to Armando is that he has finally found his own path to happiness and must pursue it.
For years, without any further news of Sergio, Armando wonders what happened to his patient. He subsequently learns that Sergio is living a happy life in New York and that he is now a woman, Sandra. Not long after this startling discovery, however, Armando is shocked to read about Sandra's unexpected death. In an attempt to discover the truth about Sergio and Sandra's life, Armando starts investigating on his own.
Sergio Y. is a unique and moving story about gender, identity, and the search for happiness.
Synopsis
Winner of the Parana Literary Prize for Best Novel
Sergio Y.is a prize-winning inspirational work of fiction about gender, identity, self-reinvention, what it means to live a full life, and the search for happiness.
Armando, one of the most renowned therapists inSao Paulo, is nearing the end of a long, illustrious career. Against his better judgment he agrees to take on a new patient: Sergio, the teenage son of a wealthy Brazilian businessman. Sergio suffers from malaise and his parents are concerned. But after a number of sessions, Sergio abruptly interrupts his course of therapy following a trip to New York, saying only that he has found his own path to happiness and must pursue it alone.
Though perplexed, and somewhat annoyed, Armando lets the matter rest without further ado. That is, until he learns from Sergio's mother that the boy has moved to New York and is transitioning. Sergio is becoming Sandra.
How could he have missed that? Something so big? An accomplished therapist like him, how could he not have seen...
Armando embarks on a journey to discover the truth about his former patient and about himself. Along the way, he will learn that compassion is sometimes conveyed in the most mysterious ways.
Through understated prose, Sergio Y.approaches the transgender experience from the inside and the outside."
About the Author
Alexandre Vidal Porto was born in São Paulo. A career diplomat, a Harvard-trained lawyer, and a human rights activist, he writes a regular column for Folha de S. Paulo. His fiction has appeared in some of the most respected literary publications in Brazil and also abroad. Sergio Y. was the winner of the Parana Literary Prize for best novel.