Transversals of time

Reader, be aware: this book is based on real events. Or, at least, on events that could be, or were, or will be, absolutely real.

Within are plots that mimic the so-called reality of things and that—almost as a consequence—are raw and violent. It's not that this is a predictable book, much less one of those works that isolate themselves in holes of pain, aggression, and nonsense. Not at all. What Tailor Diniz, a native of Rio Grande do Sul and a journalist trained in Santa Maria da Boca do Monte, delivers to his reader in this "Transversais do Tempo" is a miserable, dry, hard life. And frequent.

Journalist, writer, columnist, and screenwriter, Tailor reaches his tenth book, bringing together short stories and narratives whose hallmark is strangeness—life's incredible ability to surprise at every turn. Skilled in using tension as a narrative driver and in the effect of surprising and precise endings, the author engages with the crime and thriller genres. This is the case in "Gold Rolex Calls the Attention of a Bandit," in which a corporate press officer finds himself grappling with interrogations from his boss. Or in "Tango Lyrics," in which the dialogue between a police chief and a murderer verges on the most complete (and believable) absurd. Or even in "Pelo Avesso," where the chronology of events is completely turned upside down.

More than developing his narratives around the harshness of everyday life, Tailor also reveals himself to be a prose writer of breath, with great power of storytelling and an irreproachable sense of solidarity with his characters and readers—attributes that are evident at all levels, for example, in the short story "Between Mirrors and Shadows," a piece of narrative resistance that closes the volume in a lapidary way.

Reader, be aware: this book is the fruit of the work of an author who owns his art. From this point on, everything can be, and is, the absolute truth.

- Cynthia Moscovich