Twenty After Midnight

June 1, 2020
Brazilian writer Galera’s thoughtful, bittersweet novel (after Blood-Drenched Beard) tackles the ephemeral nature of friendship. Emiliano, 39, struggles to pay the rent on his São Paulo apartment and to finish his doctorate. He’s lost touch with a group of friends from college, with whom he launched Orangutan, a webzine. The shocking murder of their friend Andrei “Duke” Dukelsky triggers a melancholy reunion for Emiliano and surviving “Orangutanuns” Aurora and Antero. Catching up begins at the funeral and continues at a bar, where Emiliano, Aurora, and Antero realize Duke, who was well-known for his novels, has made a greater impact than any of them. Emiliano, now a freelance writer, is outraged when an editor suggests he write a quick biography of Duke, to “ride the coattails of his death.” Emiliano’s memories of Duke are painfully tied to Duke’s rejection of him, and Duke gained mileage in his literary career by making Emiliano a thinly disguised character in his fiction “at a time when sex between men was either invisible or merely hinted at in Brazilian literature and made the hippest of humanities students uncomfortable.” The infectious, rueful narration shows Emiliano’s uneasy attachment to his home city. Galera crafts a nuanced, complex portrait of millennial anxiety and anomie. Agent: Laurence Laluyaux, RCW Literary Agency.

Three narrators chronicle the lives of four friends in Brazil. In the 90s, Emiliano, Antero, Andrei, and Aurora founded an e-zine that defined their fairly successful careers. But when it folded, their friendship also ended. When Andrei is murdered more than a decade later, the remaining three are forced to confront one another. Alternating between several points of view, the narrators capably keep the novel's plot threads under control. De Ocampo is commendable in delivering sensitive and provocative scenes. Corzo's narration evokes intrigue, and Barillas's buoyant voice complements the other narrators' deliveries. Those looking for a poignant, thought-provoking audiobook should listen. A.C. � AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine