Home » Brazil » Jorge Amado

Jorge Amado

Biography

Jorge Amado was born in Ilhéus in the State of Bahia in 1912. Most of his work is set in the North-East of the country. In 1931 he went to Rio de Janeiro to study law but, after the success of his first novel O país do carnaval (Carnaval), he decided to become a full-time writer. He was very influenced by the Semana de Arte Moderne (Modern Art Week), which inaugurated the modern movement in Brazil. Amado was a committed socialist and his books very much reflect this, starting with Suor [Sweat]. He became a member of the Brazilian Communist Party and was frequently harassed by the authorities for his views. He spent some time in exile in Argentina and Uruguay and was also imprisoned for a short while. He even became a member of the Brazilian parliament, representing the Communist Party but was suspended when the Communist Party was declared illegal. His first success abroad was with Gabriela, cravo e canela (Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon) but his most famous novel remains Dona Flor e seus dois maridos (Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands) , not least because of the film, starring Sonia Braga. Though he was a committed socialist and his concern for the downtrodden was apparent in his work, he was also a first-class literary novelist, including elements of humor, Brazilian myth, local colour and, in his later works, strong, independent women who rise above difficult circumstances. He remains Brazil’s most popular and widely-read novelist. He died in 2001.

Books about Jorge Amado

Bobby J. Chamberlain: Jorge Amado
Itazil Benício dos Santos: Jorge Amado : retrato incompleto (in Portuguese)
Rosane Rubim Jorge Amado, 80 anos de vida e obra : subsídios para pesquisa (in Portuguese)
Miécio Táti: Jorge Amado: Vida e Obra (in Portuguese)
Alexandre Pinheiro Torres: Jorge Amado (in Portuguese)

Other links

Jorge Amado
Jorge Amado
Jorge Amado (in Portuguese)
Jorge Amado (in Portuguese)
Jorge Amado (in Portuguese)
Jorge Amado (in Portuguese)
Jorge Amado foi o autor mais espionado (in Portuguese)
Obituary (in Portuguese)

Bibliography

1931 O país do carnaval (Carnaval) (novel)
1933 Cacáu (novel)
1934 Suor (novel)
1935 Jubiabá (Jubiabá) (novel)
1936 Mar morto (Sea of Death) (novel)
1937 Capitães da areia (Captains of the Sands) (novel)
1938 A estrada do mar (poetry)
1940 A.B.C. de Castro Alves (biography)
1942 A Vida de Luís Carlos Prestes, o Cavaleiro da Esperança (biography)
1943 Terras do Sem-Fim (The Violent Land) (novel)
1943 São Jorge dos Ilhéus (The Golden Harvest) (novel)
1945 Bahia de Todos os Santos: guia das ruas e dos misterios da cidade do Salvador (travel)
1946 Homens e coisas do Partido Comunista (politics)
1946 Seara Vermelha (novel)
1947 O amor de Castro Alves, história de um poeta e sua amante (later: O amor do soldado) (drama)
1951 O Mundo da Paz (travel)
1954 Os Subterráneos da Liberdade (Os Àsperos Tempos; Agonia da Noite; A Luz no Túnel) (novel)
1956 O cavaleiro da esperança; vida de Luiz Carlos Prestes (biography)
1958 Gabriela, cravo e canela (Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon) (novel)
1958 A morte e a morte de Quincas Berro D’água (The Two Deaths of Quincas Wateryell; The Double Death of Quincas Water-Bray) (novel)
1961 Os Velhos Marinheiros (Home is the Sailor) (novel)
1962 De como o mulato Porciúncula descarregou seu defunto (story)
1964 Os pastores da noite (Shepherds of the Night) (novel)
1965 O poeta zé trindade (poetry)
1966 Dona Flor e seus dois maridos (Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands) (novel)
1967 Bahia boa terra Bahia (with Carybé) (travel)
1969 Tenda dos milagres (Tent of Miracles) (novel)
1972 Tereza Batista Cansada de Guerra (Tereza Batista : Home from the Wars) (novel)
1976 O gato malhado e a andorinha Sinhá: uma história de amor (The Swallow and the Tom Cat : a Love Story) (children’s)
1977 Tieta do Agreste (Tieta) (novel)
1979 Mural dos Orixás (with Carybé) (about the mural of the same name)
1979 Farda, fardão, camisola de dormir : fábula para acender uma esperança (Pen, Sword, Camisole : a Fable to Kindle a Hope) (novel)
1979 O milagre dos pássaros (The Miracle of the Birds) (fable)
1981 O menino grapiúna (memoirs)
1984 Tocaia Grande (Showdown) (novel)
1984 A Bola e o Goleiro (children’s)
1988 O Sumiço da Santa (The War of the Saints) (novel)
1992 Navegação de cabotagem (memoirs)
1993 Discursos (talks)
1994 A descoberta da América pelos turcos (The Discovery of America by the Turks) (novel)
1995 O Compadre de Ogun (Companion of the God Ogun) (story from Os pastores da noite (Shepherds of the Night) (novel)
2010 As mortes e o triunfo de Rosalinda (story)
2012 Bahia de Todos-os-santos : guia de ruas e mistérios (travel)