“That rare person who looked like Marlene Dietrich and wrote like Virginia Woolf,” Clarice Lispector is one of the most popular but least understood of Latin American writers. Now, after years of research on three continents, drawing on previously unknown manuscripts and dozens of interviews, Benjamin Moser demonstrates how Lispector’s development as a writer was directly connected to the story of her turbulent life. Born in the nightmarish landscape of post–World War I Ukraine, Clarice became, virtually from adolescence, a person whose beauty, genius, and eccentricity intrigued Brazil. Why This World tells how this precocious girl, through long exile abroad and difficult personal struggles, matured into a great writer, and asserts, for the first time, the deep roots in the Jewish mystical tradition that make her the true heir to Kafka as well as the unlikely author of “perhaps the greatest spiritual autobiography of the twentieth century.” From Chechelnik to Recife, from Naples and Bern to Washington and Rio de Janeiro, Why This World strips away the mythology surrounding this extraordinary figure and shows how Clarice Lispector transformed one woman’s struggles into a universally resonant art.
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Clarice Lispector is one of the hidden geniuses of twentieth century literature, in the same league as Flann O'Brien, Borges and Pessoa. Now, finally, the plot has been thickened and the problem solved by Benjamin Moser's biography which is rich in detail and original research and filled with sympathy for what must remain hidden and what must be understood. He has written a great book about a Jewish heroine whose family lived through some of the worst episodes of the last century in Europe; he has given also a fascinating account of modern Brazil where Lispector's work is treasured and her genius recognized. --Colm Toibin
Review
“A biography worthy of its great subject. . . . One of the twentieth century’s most mysterious writers is finally revealed in all her vibrant colors.”—Orhan Pamuk “ A smart, passionate portrait of a truly remarkable writer.” —Jonathan Franzen “ Clarice Lispector is one of the hidden geniuses of twentieth-century literature. . . .Utterly original and brilliant, haunting and disturbing. . . Benjamin Moser’s biography is a great book about a Jewish heroine, filled with sympathy for what must remain hidden and what must be understood.” —Colm Tóibín “ Everything about Clarice Lispector was unlikely: her great beauty, her early fame, her unique voice, her status as an icon to Brazilians. . . . In Benjamin Moser, she has found a gifted young biographer, social historian,and prose stylist who is able to take her elusive measure. This book is enthralling.” —Judith Thurman “ Clarice Lispector is one of the summits of Latin American literature. . . . Whether or not you know this delicate and powerful woman, this splendid biography deserves to be read. After finishing it, you will be in love with her.” —Guillermo Arriaga “ Glamorous, cultured, moody, Lispector is an emblematic twentieth-century artist who belongs in the same pantheon as Kafka and Joyce. Benjamin Moser has recreated all the psychological and cultural context needed to understand this great writer, and brought to life her essentially tragic nature in all its complexity.” —Edmund White
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Detailed historical background and in depth analysis of Lispector's body of work
16 Oct 2010
By Lamernoire
Format:Hardcover
A personal note from a woman who is a world traveler, visual artist and art educator:
My encounter with Clarice Lispector's work happened years back, via Helene Cixous'comments on "feminine writing" (ecriture feminine). Once I started reading Clarice's works translated in English, I fell in love with her writing that seems to breathe rather than "read". I bought this biography to reconnect with her works and I am thrilled to see many of my raw intuitions masterfully articulated and expanded. I am thrilled to discover new aspects of Clarice's work, to understand it in the historical and cultural context of both Brazil and Jewish spirituality and lived experience. Furthermore, such detailed background affords the reader a panoramic view of Lispectorian strangeness.
This biography reads like a best-seller, yet provides exhaustive, in depth analysis of the Lispectorian work, without use of academic jargon. I take this book as the best companion to CLarice Lispector's texts. It is also a book that stands on its own. Above all, it is an open invitation...to go back to the source, to (re)discover Clarice Lispector's work, and to rediscover writing in general.
My encounter with Clarice Lispector's work happened years back, via Helene Cixous'comments on "feminine writing" (ecriture feminine). Once I started reading Clarice's works translated in English, I fell in love with her writing that seems to breathe rather than "read". I bought this biography to reconnect with her works and I am thrilled to see many of my raw intuitions masterfully articulated and expanded. I am thrilled to discover new aspects of Clarice's work, to understand it in the historical and cultural context of both Brazil and Jewish spirituality and lived experience. Furthermore, such detailed background affords the reader a panoramic view of Lispectorian strangeness.
This biography reads like a best-seller, yet provides exhaustive, in depth analysis of the Lispectorian work, without use of academic jargon. I take this book as the best companion to CLarice Lispector's texts. It is also a book that stands on its own. Above all, it is an open invitation...to go back to the source, to (re)discover Clarice Lispector's work, and to rediscover writing in general.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Clarice Lispector is one of those difficult writers whose books are put on the shelves for display rather than read, in my experience.
She has a high reputation in intellectual circles and is a part of the Brazilian school curriculum so many people have "read" her, just as students of English have "read" Chaucer, Shakespeare and Joyce.
However, whether these readers - in Brazil or abroad - have understood or, dare I say, "enjoyed" Lispector's books is another matter.
She even claimed herself not to understand some of her own work.
This book is unlikely to encourage people to try Lispector as about half of it reads like a rather dull academic dissertation in which plots are outlined, characters described and the work dissected.
The writer seems to be bedazzled by the photogenic Lispector, who in her younger days had a strange beauty, and he comes over as a fan rather than a biographer.
His approach is unbalanced. For example, he devotes far too much space to her family background in the Ukraine, where Lispector was born even though she left when she was a baby and never returned.
He stresses her Jewish background and constantly points out who is and who is not a Jew to such an extent that he almost lost this (non-Jewish) reader's patience.
Lispector appears as Jewish first and Brazilian second rather than the other way round which I think is more likely the case.
The fact that she married a Catholic is barely addressed at all.
If Moser had intended this work to be a study of Lispector's Jewish origins or for a Jewish audience, he should have made it clear in the title.... Read more ›
She has a high reputation in intellectual circles and is a part of the Brazilian school curriculum so many people have "read" her, just as students of English have "read" Chaucer, Shakespeare and Joyce.
However, whether these readers - in Brazil or abroad - have understood or, dare I say, "enjoyed" Lispector's books is another matter.
She even claimed herself not to understand some of her own work.
This book is unlikely to encourage people to try Lispector as about half of it reads like a rather dull academic dissertation in which plots are outlined, characters described and the work dissected.
The writer seems to be bedazzled by the photogenic Lispector, who in her younger days had a strange beauty, and he comes over as a fan rather than a biographer.
His approach is unbalanced. For example, he devotes far too much space to her family background in the Ukraine, where Lispector was born even though she left when she was a baby and never returned.
He stresses her Jewish background and constantly points out who is and who is not a Jew to such an extent that he almost lost this (non-Jewish) reader's patience.
Lispector appears as Jewish first and Brazilian second rather than the other way round which I think is more likely the case.
The fact that she married a Catholic is barely addressed at all.
If Moser had intended this work to be a study of Lispector's Jewish origins or for a Jewish audience, he should have made it clear in the title.... Read more ›
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.6 out of 5 stars
7 reviews
35 of 39 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Forgotten Author Gets Her Due
23 Aug 2009
By C. Hutton
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
At nearly 500 pages, this biography of Brazil's greatest female author will be the definitive account of the Ukrainian Jew who emigrated to Brazil as a baby. Her family of origin's history was horrific and her own life was painful -- so it was no surprise that her novels explore the meaning of life. Mr. Moser's storytelling is well-done and he has has done exhaustive research. Once the reader starts this book, you will not be able to put it down.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Uncovering Clarice
24 Jan 2010
By R. Sellers
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
As one of Clarice's most adoring admirers, having read most of her novels in my native Portuguese, I was captivated by the way Mr. Mosher uncovered the journey of this amazing artist, giving a historical perspective of the world she grew up in, her experiences, her insecurities, her love for writing, her passions, and her everyday life. Masterfully written! Hard to put it down. Clarice's world and words live on.
27 of 33 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fabulous book!
21 July 2009
By A. Tabor
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
A masterful biography of one of the 20th century's most fascinating writers, too long unknown outside her native Brazil. This engaging, authoritative work should change that!
›
Go to Amazon.com to see all 7 reviews
4.6 out of 5 stars
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