Here, gathered in one volume, are the stories that made Clarice a Brazilianlegend. Originally a cloth edition of eighty-six stories, now we have eighty-nine in all, covering her whole amazing career, from her teenage years to herdeathbed. In these pages, we meet teenagers becoming aware of their sexualand artistic powers, humdrum housewives whose lives are shattered by unexpected epiphanies, old people who don’t know what to do with themselves—and in their stories, Clarice takes us through their lives—and hers—and ours.