Fun Facts Friday: Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis
Fun Facts Friday , Latest Posts / June 21, 2013

Today is the birthday of famed Brazilian novelist, poet, playwrite and short story writer Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis. The author was an advocate of monarchism and is still regarded as the greatest writer of Brazilian literature. 1) The author was known also as Machado de Assis, Machado, or Bruxo do Cosme Velho 2) Machado was born in Rio de Janeiro which at the time was the capital of the Empire of Brazil to a mulatto father and a Azorean Portuguese washerwoman. 3) Machado went to public school but was not a good student. 4) Father Silveira Sarmento became known to young de Assis while celebrating masses and taught him Latin (and later became a friend). 5) When his mother died, 10 year-old Joaquim and his father moved to São Cristóvão. Franscisco de Assis met and married Maria Inês da Silva. 6) Joaquim studied at a school for girls, he was there because his stepmother worked at the school making candy. At night Joaquim learned French and also met Francisco de Paula Brito, a bookstore owner who helped him get published. 7) Joaquim started working in a newspaper as a proofreader while contining to write for several other newspapers. He…

Book Review: State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
4 Stars , Fiction , Latest Posts / June 27, 2012

Article first published as Book Review: State of Wonder by Ann Patchett on Blogcritics. About: State of Wonder by Ann Patchett is a fictional book taking place, mostly, in Brazil’s Amazonregion. I have been in that region and ever since loved reading about it, reliving my adventures and banging my head against the wall wishing to go back again and look at things with more informed eyes. The pub­lisher is giv­ing away one copy of this book— use the Raf­fle­copter form at the end of the post to enter. 368 pages Publisher: Bloomsbury UK Language: English ISBN-10: 1408818590 My rating for State of Wonder – 4 Buy this book in paper or electronic format More Books by Anne Patchett Thoughts: State of Wonder by Ann Patchett (website) takes its time to build up, putting ordinary people, slowly but surely, in extraordinary situations where neither them nor the reader realizes it until the setup clamps behind you with no way back. The book has several themes running through it, but the two I found most fascinating is the effects mentors have on their underlings and being able to let go of formal education, when necessary, to look differently at the world around you. I believe that…

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