{"product_id":"act-of-the-damned-paperback","title":"Act of the Damned - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eAntónio Lobo Antunes\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"An exhilarating cacophony of conflicting voices . . . The fury of its rhetoric takes on all but irresistible momentum.\"-\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs the socialist revolution closes in, a once-wealthy Portuguese family is accused of \"economic sabotage.\" They must escape across the border to Spain, then on to Brazil -- but the family is bankrupt, financially and spiritually. The patriarch, Diogo, lies dying, while his rapacious offspring rifle through his belongings, searching for his will. He remembers with bitterness and resignation his foolish marriage to his brother's beautiful mistress, who left him with a mongoloid daughter and a simpleminded son, who at sixty is running toy trains past his father's deathbed with the solemn self-importance of a five-year-old.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTold through a rippling overlay of voices, \u003ci\u003eAct of the Damned\u003c\/i\u003e circles closer and closer to the revelation of the diabolical immorality of Diogo's greedy son-in-law Rodrigo . . . who has fathered a child of his own bastard daughter and who is closing in on Diogo's crumbling estate. In the oppressive autumn heat, the characters' schemes ebb and flow in an atmosphere of decrepit elegance, tarnished silver, and rotting brocade. When the moment of departure finally arrives, the scene shifts from chaos to vacuum and Rodrigo finds himself no longer at the center of the group but firmly, terrifyingly, outside and alone.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eBack Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs the socialist revolution closes in, a once-wealthy Portuguese family is accused of \"economic sabotage\". They must escape across the border to Spain, then on to Brazil - but the family is bankrupt, financially and spiritually. The patriarch, Diogo, lies dying, while his rapacious offspring rifle through his belongings, searching for his will. Told through a rippling overlay of voices, Act of the Damned circles closer and closer to the revelation of the diabolical immorality of Diogo's greedy son-in-law Rodrigo ... who has fathered a child on his own bastard daughter and who is closing in on Diogo's crumbling estate. In the oppressive autumn heat, the characters' schemes ebb and flow in an atmosphere of decrepit elegance, tarnished silver, and rotting brocade. When the moment of departure finally arrives, the scene shifts from chaos to vacuum and Rodrigo finds himself no longer at the center of the group but firmly, terrifyingly, outside and alone.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAntónio Lobo Antunes\u003c\/b\u003e, who was called \"one of Portugal's pre-eminent writers\" by the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e, was born in Lisbon in 1942. The son of a physician, he too became a doctor and then spent four years in the Portuguese army during the Angolan war. His fictional \"memoir\" of that war, \u003ci\u003eSouth of Nowhere\u003c\/i\u003e, was internationally praised and followed by other widely translated and much-honored novels, including \u003ci\u003eAct of the Damned\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eFado Alexandrino\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eExplanation of the Birds\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe Natural Order of Things\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 246\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.74 x 8.28 x 5.52 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e September 12, 1996\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52554540777765,"sku":"9780802134769","price":17.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0987\/2487\/2485\/files\/omVPQ_YNo49780802134769.webp?v=1781356689","url":"https:\/\/c4lhome.com\/products\/act-of-the-damned-paperback","provider":" Companion for Life Five Home","version":"1.0","type":"link"}