| Book: ‘The Rogue and Other Portuguese Stories’ – Editor’s NotePortuguese American Journal

Book: ‘The Rogue and Other Portuguese Stories’ – Editor’s Note

Posted on 05 April 2015.

“The Rogue narrates a beautiful nightmare with aplomb, even mastery. The timing of the dialogue and the layers of engagement are very well rendered. The story is written by an outsider, far removed from the Portuguese way of being. It shows the oddity of things Portuguese.”
— Lídia Jorge, prominent Portuguese novelist and author.

“While exploring the enduring hypocrisies and injustices in contemporary Portuguese life, Julieta Rodrigues demonstrates a heartfelt and admirable interest in those who rarely if ever make the news or draw our ongoing attention, unveiling – in compelling and complex ways – what is most curious and dramatic in their lives.”
— Richard Zimler, best-selling author of fiction, journalist, poet, screen-writer.

“Julieta Rodrigues’s short story collection probes and tears at the heart of the question, ‘What does it currently mean to be Portuguese?’ Through spellbinding prose which weaves deftly through stories of domestic abuse, religious rebellion, adulterous wives and imprisoned drug dealers, the darker sides of contemporary Portuguese life are illuminated and in turn its greatest societal and political truths are revealed.”
— Erik Van Achter, Researcher, Center for Portuguese Literature, University of Coimbra and Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium.

“Having read Julieta Rodrigues’s first collection of short stories, On the Way to Red Square, which impressed me by their brilliantly raw and yet delicate fictional atmosphere, I must confess that this second collection does not in any way fall short. The psychological depth of her characters, the skillful manipulation of narrative, the intertwining of detail-rich plots, are all superb portrayals of the idiosyncrasies of the Portuguese. Each story is a magnificent revelation, a splendid encounter demanding to be read in a single breath.”
— Salvato Teles de Menezes, President of Fundação D. Luís I, Cascais, author and literary critic.

About the Author
Julieta Almeida Rodrigues, Ph.D. has taught at the University of Lisbon and Georgetown University. The last story of this collection, “Black on White,” has been published in the Interdisciplinary Journal of Portuguese Diaspora Studies.