Diary of the Brazilian Catastrophe: Year I

Bold and enlightening, Diary of the Brazilian Catastrophe: Year I presents a revealing analysis of the 2018 presidential campaign and all its political and social ramifications, which continue to impact the country today.

A little over a year later, the police have become even more violent, cases of censorship in the arts have returned, Brazil has become a laughingstock around the world, deforestation has reached alarming levels, hundreds of pesticides have been released for use, the population is encouraged not to believe in scientific data, government aggression against the press is commonplace, and the economy, lo and behold, remains in crisis.

Here, the reader will find a revealing analysis of campaign material that circulated even before 2018 and has not been fully evaluated. Likewise, both Operation Car Wash and its main driver, former Minister Sérgio Moro, are viewed in an original and surprising way. The text alternates between moments of astonishment and others of indignation, without ever losing its coherence or the need (which it seems to see as an obligation) to find meaning in the success of the man who was, in Lísias's words, "the worst candidate in Brazilian electoral history."

There's no condescension: while there's plenty of criticism of the press, for example, Lísias evaluates his own behavior and that of his peers, while also developing hypotheses about art, society, and culture. The pages of "Diário da Catacata Brasileira" unfold without the use of the main adversative conjunctions. For the author, it's definitely past time for "but," "however," "yet," "yet," and "yet." And this is just one example of the originality of this book, which is sometimes frightening, sometimes funny, and always bold and enlightening.