The Inky Phoenix | The Hour of the Star

The Hour of the Star

Clarice Lispector

Benjamin Moser

Colm Tóibín

A new edition of Clarice Lispector’s final masterpiece, now with a vivid introduction by Colm Tóibín.

Narrated by the cosmopolitan Rodrigo S.M., this brief, strange, and haunting tale is the story of Macabéa, one of life's unfortunates. Living in the slums of Rio and eking out a poor living as a typist, Macabéa loves movies, Coca-Colas, and her rat of a boyfriend; she would like to be like Marilyn Monroe, but she is ugly, underfed, sickly, and unloved.

Rodrigo recoils from her wretchedness, and yet he cannot avoid the realization that for all her outward misery, Macabéa is inwardly free. She doesn't seem to know how unhappy she should be.

Lispector employs her pathetic heroine against her urbane, empty narrator—edge of despair to edge of despair—and, working them like a pair of scissors, she cuts away the reader's preconceived notions about poverty, identity, love, and the art of fiction.

In her last book, she takes readers close to the true mystery of life and leaves us deep in Lispector territory indeed.

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SISTER SNAKE author Amanda Lee Koe’s favorite books

On the last day of February, we’re highlighting SISTER SNAKE author @amandaleekoe’s favorite books, and yes — you’re going to want them all.

Clarice Lispector – The Hour of the Star
Han Kang – The Vegetarian
Ursula K. Le Guin – The Left Hand of Darkness
Carmen Maria Machado — Her Body and Other Parties
Bernardine Evaristo – Girl, Woman, Other
Andrea Lawlor – Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl
Akwaeke Emezi – Freshwater
Mariana Enríquez – Things We Lost in the Fire