Kissing teeth

"This collection consists of powerful stories, both in terms of their subject matter, often dark, and their language. We find monologues and dialogues of exalted, almost hallucinatory characters. Unlike most contemporary authors who, in search of powerful expression, resort to obscene language or lose themselves in completely unstructured discourse, the narrator of these texts masterfully masters the fury of words." – Leyla Perrone-Moisés

"Maurício de Almeida's book achieves an unusual combination of inventive language and narrative fluency. It utilizes various technical resources without becoming tiresome or obscure, as its raison d'être lies in the story itself. In "At Four and a Half in the Morning," for example, the rhythm conveys the narrator's breathless, sleepless wait for his beloved. Using banal scenes and lines from everyday life, the author examines the tensions in human relationships, across gender and generation. The characters' voices are believable, and there are beautiful verbal finds." – Daniel Piza

Kissing Teeth won the 2007 Sesc Literature Prize