The girded look

"In Flávio Braga's text, we encounter writing well." — Moacyr Scliar "I can't recall reading a Brazilian novel in years that left me with a sense of "completeness" as a worldview—in this case, our world, the Brazilian one. The Ceded Look is a reality check (in a good way). And very, extremely well-informed." — Paulo Bentancur In his new novel, The Ceded Look, writer, playwright, and screenwriter Flávio Braga presents a surprising critique of the current media power and a lamentable portrait of the intellectual condition of Brazilians, who daily immerse themselves in front of the television, breaking world audience records. The duel between two TV shows fighting for viewership reveals the myths that control Brazilian mass society. Fredo Bastos is a host and producer of popular programs in search of a new, highly successful reality show. He accumulates powers that make him both desirable and fearsome, and he spares no effort to keep his program, RioSampa Show, in first place in the ratings. The arc of influences he builds with success spans a spectrum from extreme luxury to organized crime. "Fredo is full of qualities and vices. He's the product of a society based on competition," explains the author. Through his protagonist's story, Flavio Braga uses a fast-paced and fluid narrative to expose the frivolity and sordidness of this perverse reality where entertainment functions, according to the interests of a few, like the opium of the people. The suspenseful nature of the text doesn't stifle its approach to real politics, culture, and the everyday world of ideas. The various sectors covered by the media, and transformed by it, are represented in the book with vivacity and verisimilitude. Beyond its entertaining characteristics, "The Cinched Eye" makes us reflect on prestige and arrogance built on nothing.