A glance, a tram, a man chewing gum—and suddenly nothing holds. In this luminous story, Clarice Lispector captures the instant when the ordinary breaks open and the self no longer feels secure. What emerges is not drama but revelation: a world at once more alive and more unbearable.

'The morning became a long, drawn-out afternoon that became depthless night dawning innocently through the house'Tales of desire and madness from this giant of Brazilian literature.Penguin Modern: fifty new books celebrating the pioneering spirit of the iconic Penguin Modern Classics series, with each one offering a concentrated hit of its contemporary, international flavour. Here are authors ranging from Kathy Acker to James Baldwin, Truman Capote to Stanislaw Lem...

The publication of Clarice Lispector's Complete Stories, eighty-five in all, is a major literary event. Now, for the first time in English, are all the stories that made her a Brazilian legend: from teenagers coming into awareness of their sexual and artistic powers to humdrum housewives whose lives are shattered by unexpected epiphanies to old people who don't know what to do with themselves. Lispector's stories take us through their lives - and ours. From one of the greatest mod...

Here, gathered in one volume, are the stories that made Clarice a Brazilian legend. These stories cover her whole amazing career, from her teenage years to her deathbed. In these pages, we meet teenagers becoming aware of their sexual and artistic powers, humdrum housewives whose lives are shattered by unexpected epiphanies, old people who don’t know what to do with themselves―and in their stories, Clarice takes us through their lives―and hers―and ours.