“A searing indictment of racism and
privilege in Brazil, and an uncompromising challenge to the country's idealised
view of itself as a racial democracy.” —Ángel
Gurría-Quintana, Financial Times
“Phenotypes demonstrates how the
traumas of growing up in a racist society can propel a person of color forward
while never letting them escape their past.” —Southwest Review
“Phenotypes underscores how difficult antiracist projects can be at
any scale…Scott’s characters quickly abandon the possibility of a comprehensive
solution in favor of stopgap measures that may or may not work. Such are the
inadequacies, the novel asserts, of treating entrenched and systemic issues as
if they are only skin-deep.” —New York Times Book Review
“This is an artfully plotted tale about race, privilege and
guilt…Phenotypes educates
and entertains in equal measure.” —The Observer
“Phenotypes is…brilliant and emotionally resonant. I put
it down days ago, and I'm still walking around with it.” —Star Tribune
“A compelling exploration
of the fraught reality of race relations in Brazil . . . there is much that
English-speaking readers stand to gain from the considered, quiet fury of Paulo
Scott’s novel, not least the expansion of and challenge to modern-day
discourses on race.” —Times
Literary Supplement
“Phenotypes is a complex, stream-of-consciousness novel about
race, culture, and deciding for oneself where one belongs.” —Foreword Reviews
“[A] profound story of colorism and familial loyalty set in
Brazil…The multiple layers combine for a mesmerizing and mature story.” —Publishers Weekly starred review
“Scott
pours out his indictment of Brazil in long, overflowing sentences that are
equal parts outrage and cutting humor. Originally titled Brown and
Yellow when it was published in Portuguese…it is not easy to shake off.” Kirkus Review
“A
blistering examination of Brazil's fraught racial history told through two
brothers, one light-skinned and one dark-skinned.” —Katie
Goh, i-D (Books to Read 2022)
“Federico, the white-passing mixed-race
narrator of Paulo Scott’s stirring new novel Phenotypes, grips
you from his opening words, and what a story he has to tell. Ostensibly sending
up a Brazilian governmental bureaucracy’s attempts to address problems with the
racial quota system in its higher education, Scott quickly shows that he has
penned a profound, coruscating exploration of race, racism, colorism, family
dynamics, class, culture, regionalism, politics, radicalism, and so much more.
Scott’s intricate, ironic, entrancing narration, skillfully rendered into
English by Daniel Hahn, confirms Scott as one of Brazil’s finest contemporary
writers.” —John Keene
“Scott seems to have managed to produce a novel that
will survive the test of time, a profound interpretation of our time and our
country.” —Folha de São Paulo
"[Phenotypes’] deftly
engaging plot . . . twists and turns while exploring race, brotherhood,
privilege, and the lasting impact of guilt. Hahn’s translation is exemplary,
and although this is not an easy read, it is a journey worth taking." —Joshua
Rees, Buzz
“Phenotypes is
innovative, deftly precise in its form, and utterly profound in its content.
Scott’s work in bringing contemporary urgencies into fiction is uncomfortable
and often unsettling, but necessary—and, ultimately, unforgettable.” —Rachel
Farmer, Asymptote
Praise for Paulo Scott
“A powerful, complex and very ambitious voice. In the contemporary Latin American literature scene, Paulo Scott is a must-read.” —Juan Pablo Villalobos