I love books like this one (lives and letters); and while I do realize the many motivations one would have to read someone else's correspondence, in this case this all applies to my desire to learn more about the life and drive of my favorite authors. There is no better way to do that; biographies and memoirs fall shart since there is an inherent bias/perspective. Letters are of the moment, of the relationship, and they remain immutable through time. This book presents the reader with a Clarice Lispector and a Fernando Sabino that are entirely new and incredibly real. Because that is what they were - real people who happen to have produced some of the best literature of Brazil. ( )