THE ISLE OF DOGS

In the second half of the 19th century, Burton served as a diplomat in Brazil—a place he considered, alongside his homeland, the most repulsive land he had ever set foot in. So much so that he could only breathe a sigh of relief when transferred to Damascus, Syria. Burton, however, never reached his destination—at least in the imagination of Santa Catarina-born writer Rodrigo Schwarz. In Isle of Dogs, his debut novel, Schwarz creates a boat accident en route between America and the Middle East, transforming Richard Francis Burton into a castaway. Stranded on a desert island with no hope of rescue, the English scholar attempts to write a book as extraordinary as The Lusiads. But who will his readers be? There, there is only water, sand, and a blind Brazilian who makes his living carving wooden dogs...