There’s No Point in Dying

Set in the slums of Rio de Janeiro, Maciel’s alluring English-language debut strings together phantasmagoric vignettes about the comings and goings of mobsters, taxi drivers, and a quartet of dogs. The scenes are linked by two recurring characters: Guile Xangô, a philosophical man who seems out of place among the pimps and gang members (“There was a rumor that he was an X-9, a P2, a spy, a snitch, a traitor”), and his friend Vovô do Crime, a “weirdo” who looks down on everyone, even Guile. The novel opens with the death of a young gang member named Dafé, only for him to return a few pages later in a flashback. From there, the narrative ping-pongs through time, replaying scenes from different perspectives and loosely tracing the fallout from a gang massacre that upends numerous lives, including those of four dogs who are driven from their favorite bar by marauding rats. In place of a plot, Maciel crafts powerful set pieces, like gang member Lourinho’s taking revenge on the trio of men who raped his sister, cabby Pedrao’s dreamlike ghost story of how the world ends, and Guile’s one-night stand with a soccer fan celebrating a local championship. It’s an indelible depiction of a community on the brink of disaster. (Jan.)