Courtesy of Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

My German Brother

By Chico BuarqueBrazilian pop legend and one of the founders of Tropicalismo, has developed into an intriguing and inventive novelist as well, with works such as Budapest (2003), Spilt Milk (2009), and others. The language of My German Brother (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) is musical and serpentine, as he unravels a tale that is part historical mystery, part intellectual and sexual coming-of-age. In 1960s São Paulo, adolescent son Ciccio stumbles upon an old love letter in one of his father’s books—a note from a German woman who his father met while studying in Berlin in the early 30s. Ciccio’s obsessive desire to learn more about his father’s past (and the existence of a possible half brother) leads him to Germany decades later where, an old man now himself, he finds he is no closer to the truth. ( Amazon.com