As If by Magic

Nothing is as it seems in the sinuous tales of Brazilian master Edgard Telles Ribeiro

A son embarks on a journey involving a disappearing suitcase, secret police, and a strange letter, while pursuing a father who appears to have fallen victim to Alzheimer's disease. A man inherits a deserted island and is drawn into the mysterious, possibly deadly affairs of a strange couple on a sailboat. A gold miner in a remote Amazon outpost escapes from a murderous foreman by building an improbable machine. A writer chases the evasive opening sentence of his novel while locked down in his Rio de Janeiro apartment with his wife, until she usurps the narrative.

In the four tales that comprise As If by Magic, Edgard Telles Ribeiro invites us into labyrinthine worlds where what we perceive is only the beginning of the story.

Select Praise for Edgard Telles Ribeiro

“Elegant, absorbingly knowing, chilling, dryly humorous and often moving.” —Francisco Goldman

“Comical and brooding, enchanting and disturbing.” —Laura Restrepo

“Atmospheric and engrossing. . . . A master of the subtleties of subjectivity.” —Wall Street Journal

“Cunning” —Washington Post

“Sumptuous.” —Tulsa World

“Unveils details with a poetic lushness, unhurried, dreamy, as if lingering on their weight, their significance.” —Philadelphia Inquirer

“Telles Ribeiro’s [work] is of global import, a caution against too readily forgetting and too quickly adapting.” —Words Without Borders

“[Telles Ribeiro’s] inventive novellas are like literary puzzles for the reader to tease out.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Telles Ribeiro, a diplomat by profession, is a natural writer. His language is impeccable and imbued with a grace that’s impossible to resist.” —Publishers Weekly

Brazilian writer Edgard Telles Ribeiro is the author of fourteen works of fiction including The Impostor and As If by Magic. He studied cinema at University of California, Los Angeles, worked as a film critic for several newspapers before becoming a career diplomat, and has received Brazil's most prestigious literary prizes, including the Jabuti Prize, Brazilian Academy of Letters Prize, and Brazilian PEN Club Prize. He lives in New York and Rio de Janeiro.

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