São Paulo – Brazilian journalist and writer Diogo Bercito will launch his debut novel Vou sumir quando a vela se apagar [I’ll be gone when the candle goes out] next Thursday (21) at 7 pm (BRT) in the Megafauna bookstore at the Copan building in São Paulo, Brazil. The event will feature Folha de S.Paulo’s journalist and podcaster Chico Felitti, who’ll have a chat about the book with Bercito, followed by a book signing.
The book tells the story of teenagers Yacub and Butrus, two best friends that lived in a village in Syria during the French occupation in the first half of the twentieth century. Built over the years between the hard work in the farm, conversations under the shade of a tree and puffs of cigarette, their relation gradually takes a new shape. As soon as they realize that, Butrus receives an invitation from his uncle to emigrate to Brazil, where he had taken up residence. But the promise of prosperity halfway around the world is abruptly cut short by a tragedy that the doctors believe was caused by a disease but Yacub says resulted from the actions of a jinn, a mythological being that is very present in the Arab imagery and can do good or evil.
This is the point that the thrilling story arrives in a new setting: the bustling city of São Paulo in the early 30s, a city in transformation, a point of attraction for people from around the world. In an environment marked by the desire to settle down and infinite possible futures, the past comes back to haunt young immigrant Yacub, who have increasingly vivid dreams with the jinn as a persecutory figure.
The knowledge of the Arab culture and history that had guided the author in his non-fiction book Brimos, on the immigration of Syrians and Lebanese and their political career in Brazil, is now in the service of his debut novel.
His mastery of writing shows up in his capacity of creating dialogues and highly dramatic scenes where the unspoken outweighs the spoken words. Vou dormir quando a vela se apagar is an exciting novel on love, identity and self-discovery that explores the difficulties of dealing with desires and taking the reins of one’s own destiny.
Vou dormir quando a vela se apagar is available in several bookstores and on the website of publishing house Intrínseca.
Diogo Bercito was born in São Paulo in 1988. He holds a degree in journalism from the Cásper Líbero College and a master’s degree in Arab studies from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and Georgetown University, where he’s a PhD student in history specializing in Middle Eastern history. He writes for Folha de S.Paulo and discusses Arab and Israeli literature for the Quatro Um magazine. He wrote the comics Remy and Rasga-Mortalhas, which was nominated for the Jabuti Award in the Comics category. He has also published the non-fiction book Brimos that covers the participation of Syrian and Lebanese immigrants and descendants in the Brazilian politics.
Quick facts
Vou sumir quando a vela se apagar
Diogo Bercito
Publishing house Intrínseca
216 pages
Paper book: BRL 54,90
E-book: BRL26,90
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
