An aging Italian man discovers a terrible secret from his mother's past and is prompted to scrutinize his own childhood and later life as a homosexual

Product Description Chronicles the imaginative, phantasmagorial adventures of a young woman, Raquel, the daughter of a Brazilian-Jewish parents, a prize convent-school student, and lover of Miguel From Publishers Weekly Scliar has written a tangled mysterious novel of Jewish alienation and mystic Catholic redemption. Born of Jewish-Hungarian parents, Raquel Szenes grows up amid the dogma and mysticism of the Brazilian Catholic church. She is also estranged from Jewish devotion by her ethnic isolation and enthralled by surreal visions of retribution and sublime redemption. In time, her shattered psyche attaches itself to various secular dietieslove, sex, money. Ultimately, death at the hands of the demented spectral narrator is her only release from a cycle of devotion and sudden damnation. Scliar's lean parable-like prose is by turns precise, evasive and erotic. Specific in detailing her childhood and life with her parents, Scliar is opaque and puzzling when he endows Raquel with aimless zealotry and arrogance. A sometimes fascinating, sometimes awkward novel of Brazilian ethnicity, assimilation and identity. (AugustpThe more than 75 sugar- and dairy-free desserts in this book demonstrate how much health foods have changed in recent years. No longer need dessert be a grainy-textured, carob-filled penance, reminding one with every bite of what one is missing. The desserts offered here provide a satisfying, sweet and, above all, festive touch to the end of a meal. There are simple fruit compotes, apple and strawberry mousses, almond torte with raspberry filling, ginger-peach pie, maple-walnut cookies and a Guinness spice cake that is a sure winter favorite. (Sugar-free sweetening is made possible by the use of barley syrup, fruit juices and maple syrup.) The authors are not antagonistic toward eggs but also endorse kanten, kuzu and tofu, all of which are readily available at health food stores. These recipes will be appreciated by people allergic to milk products. Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.