Inside street

Marcelo Moutinho reveals, in the thirteen short stories of this work, the true language that defines the city of Rio de Janeiro. Hence, he deviates from the clichés of the marvelous city to privilege the less glamorized spaces that constitute it, dwelling on the hardships, complexities, and delights of the daily lives of its inhabitants. The most mundane experiences are, in this sense, converted into small wonders and epiphanies, thanks to an incisive gaze that does not dispense with the power of affection. Everything is simultaneously dense and light. The expression in the title, "Inside Street," brings a welcome ambiguity. An inside street is one that, in popular parlance, is not the main street ("Go down the main street? No, I'll go down the inside street"). The characters are equally typical of the "inside streets": those who are not usually in the spotlight, in the city's main spaces. But the expression has a second meaning, evoking the streets we carry within us. Or: how the experience of collective life, of the street, reverberates within us, our intimate streets.