Enjoy Regina Rheda's brilliant writing in these stories about one of São Paulo's most important buildings and its unique residents.
Arca Sem Noé —Regina Rheda's literary debut—tells interconnected stories that share a common thread: the Copan building, one of the most important and emblematic buildings in the city of São Paulo. It was first published in November 1994, and in December of the same year, the short story "O Mau Próximo," which opens this collection, won the Maison de L'Amérique Latine Prize from Radio France Internationale. The following year, the book won the Jabuti Prize.
In 2005, Arca sem Noé was published in English under the title Stories from the Copan Building, by the University of Texas Press, the most important university press in the United States for Latin American literature.
"I would like to say a few words of praise for one of the brightest new stars of Brazilian literature, Regina Rheda. This spring, my students and I read several of Regina's short stories and were entranced by them! The Copan stories are like precious stones on a necklace—each brilliant in its own right, but, when viewed as a whole, part of a larger, skillfully interconnected design. We also read some of her more recent stories, such as " A Frente ," and found them equally wonderful. We were impressed by Regina's wry humor (one of the key elements of Brazilian literature), her vision of Brazil's place in our globalized world, and her deeply human spirit. We all feel that Regina more than deserves to be the heir to great Brazilians like Machado de Assis, Drummond, and Clarice Lispector. More than that, we are certain that Regina will play an important role for Brazil as the country assumes its rightful place at the heart of the development of the exciting new field of study of Inter-American literature. May we have more of Regina Rheda, both in Portuguese and in translation." to English!"
- Earl E. Fitz, professor of comparative literature, Spanish and Portuguese at Vanderbilt University, United States, and main creator of studies in inter-American literature).
