GRAPHIC RECORD FILES & OTHER STORIES makes Jaime Prado Gouvêa's intentions very clear when he brings together, after 16 years without publishing, the songs, that is, the best stories (18 of the 42 published texts, in addition to three unpublished ones) from his award-winning and meticulous career. "Then, certain events—the deaths of parents, the need to find a new direction in life, and the feeling that too much is written and too little is read in this country—all combined with a sweet retirement and shameless laziness—made me relax until I discovered, somewhat frightened, that I'd gone from the beginning to the 'complete works' before my time. But now, with the past republished and cleaned up, perhaps it's time to start over. Also weighing in was the need to avoid repeating myself and the fear of worsening (which would do a lot of people good...)," explains the author, with only four titles released since his debut in 1970. Jaime Prado Gouvêa's metaphor for literature can be seen in one of the book's best texts, called "You Haven't Seen Anything Yet." In the short story, a man spends years building a perfect railroad in his apartment, with twenty-meter-long tracks, calculated curve angles, miniatures of people, cars, and traffic signs. With the entire scenario in hand, this man decides to set this entire world in motion, alternating dizzying speeds with tourist rides, small and large accidents, scares and beauties to be seen from the cabin window while drinking hot chocolate – or listening to music.
