Tony BellottoRecensioni

It’s difficult to review any anthology, do you criticize every story, or just talk about the ones you like, either way you can’t add much to the book. Anyway, with an anthology, you don’t sit down and read it cover to cover, you pick and choose and hope to stumble across bits you like, and come back to the others later.
The Akashic Noir series is quite daunting, over 100 volumes in the series, with tales from all over the world. Rio Noir is I assume a typical example. I read the first two stories, The Hanged Man by Adriana Lisboa, and Toned Cougars by Tony Bellotto (who is also the editor of the anthology) and liked them both. They are not particularly “noir” and would fit in to any collection of stories. I don’t expect to like all the others, but that doesn’t matter, I am sure there are other surpises.
It's well worth browsing the list of titles at the front of the book, pick a few places you like, and hope for the best.

I received this book for free from Early Reviewers. Part I of the book was great. I tried to read the stories in Part II but couldn't get past them, either boring or not my cuppa tea. In part III, only one of the stories held my interest. Therefore, the stories I read fully are listed below with each of my reviews:

Cross Contamination - Excellent story about two maids who clean up a murder. The one maid goes on and on about weird stories that go on in the motel. Cool ending that I didn't see coming.

Boniclaide and Mrs. ALS - So a woman who is bedridden with a disease hears gunshots. Somehow it's related to her maid. Very interesting and very shocking ending! Great story.

Useless Diary - At first, I thought hey this should be an interesting story. The P.I. looking for a missing man at the same time John Lennon got shot and killed. It was good until the end. The end was dumb and I just shook my head thinking why?

My Name is Nicky Nicola - My favorite! It's a Brazilian Inspector Clousseau! I laughed the entire story about the bumbling P.I. I can't give this story enough praise. I can't understand how someone can be so stupid... and he thought he solved the case. :)

Teresao - Different kind of story where a rich woman purposefully gets herself kidnapped in order to lose weight. Strange story and it was just okay.

The Force is With Me - Good story. Loved the Star Wars references. Two perspectives from two women. One is sick and the other
is accidently with men in the arms business. Interesting ending.

There are two things that keep intrigued in a mystery; a flawed but alluring protagonist and a strong sense of place.
In this jaunty tale I was taken by Remo Bellini, a private detective, who is plagued by the premature death of his twin Romulo, as being the one who lived but does not live up to the perceived expectations of his father, and being privy to an insider’s bird’s-eye journey through the captivating city of Sao Paulo.
The arresting qualities of the secondary characters, the philosophical musings of the males, and the elusiveness of the females keeps the reader engaged.
While the mystery itself is a little predictable, it is written with style, verve and taunting humor
.
Overall, I enjoyed how the author put his own spin on this noir mystery, and I am interested in reading more about Remo Bellini and his escapades.½

I read a few chapters-to about page 60- and thought "ho-hum, a run of the mill mystery..." I set it aside and went to bed thinking I would abandon this one in the morning. However, I had trouble going to sleep for reasons having nothing to do with this book so I picked it up and gave it another try. It got more interesting with a number of plot twists so my curiosity made me stay with it. Some of the twists were implausible as were some of the characters . A couple of the "revelations" seemed pointless and out of place but even with its flaws it was a pleasant diversion. It borders on being a spoof of the Private Investigator mystery and maybe I'd have liked it better if it had gone more in that direction. I was going to give it two and a half stars but bumped it to three since I did read until 2am to finish it.

A novel that could have been composed by 4 men sitting around a bar drinking shots and talking about women, life and death in a good ole boy way. Not my idea of a good read but I did appreciate the fact that the woman detective solved the mystery even though it would have been impossible for the reader to do so based on the limited information about the killer until the last pages.½

Tony Bellotto’s Bellini and the Sphinx fits right into publisher Akashic Books’ specialty list of the blackest of noir fiction. Set in a gritty São Paulo, the story features the requisite hard-boiled private eye surrounded by cops and low-lifes that come close to self-parody. For the most part, the author pulls it off and you keep turning the pages to see where he’s going. Unfortunately, that end is profoundly unsatisfying – whodunit turns out to be a name mentioned only in passing during the build-up. You end up feeling cheated that you weren’t given any information that would have allowed participation in solving the mystery.

This was Bellotto’s first novel, originally published in Portuguese in 1994. Among other books, he’s published three more featuring this cast of characters. I’d hope he’s built on his talent for mood-setting and characterization and corrected the structural plot problems of this initial effort.

Having recently read Rio Noir and Sao Paulo Noir, I was curious to see what Tony Bellotto would do with his book, Bellini and the Sphinx. Unfortunately, I was extremely disappointed. Thankfully, the chapters were short and the book didn't take long to read. There was nothing to like about Remo Bellini or Dora Lobo and I really didn't care if they solved the case. Akashic Books missed the boat on this one.

This book took a series of cheesy tropes, mixed them with a bit of misogyny and a sprinkle of homophobia and pronounced the dish done. I was grateful that the brevity and use of simple language made it a very quick read so that I could move on to a more satisfying read.

Tony Bellotto has written a hard boiled detective novel set in Sao Paolo, Brazil. How hard-boiled?

1. PI with a cynical view of life and a unhappy past relationship with a woman? Also drinks way too much? Check

2. Babes with bouncing, bodacious boobs and loose morals? Check

3. A client who is not quite straightforward with the PI? Check

4. PI has sex at an unlikely rate for someone so lonely? Check

5. A brilliant detective who employs the PI to do the foot work, a la Nero Wolfe and Archie? Check

But is the book any good? Yes!

Bellotto plays fair with the reader. strewing clues about with a minimum of fuss. The book evokes the life of Sao Paolo, with late night meetings, distinctive local cuisine, and lots of alcohol. The detective agency is run by an eccentric woman whose moods are reflected in the music playing in her office. And in the end, the principal suspects are gathered in the office for a final confrontation.

If you like distinctive detective stories set in an exotic city, something reminiscent of classic PI novels, this is the book for you! I am looking forward to the next book in the series.

Well, that was a disappointment. The story line and some of the characters were interesting, but the language, especially the descriptions of the numerous sexual activities, seemed very crude and sophomoric. Perhaps the fault lies with the translation. A lot of the action seemed very farfetched and at times confusing. This book was received as an early reviewer sample.

To be honest, what attracted me to requesting this book through the Early Reviewers' program was the fact that it's set in Brazil. Sao Paulo, to be exact, and as such it already had me intrigued: I'm always on the lookout for stories set in new locations and of course Brazil is a big draw.

As for the novel itself, I agree with the reviewer who says that this is sort of a 'mystery-lite' genre. You will enjoy it most likely if you don't have sky-high expectations, and you will forget it most likely, if you read a lot. Having said that, Bellini and the Sphinx has its merits. The eponymous detective, one Remo Bellini, is a bit of a morose fellow, tortured by father issues and memories of his ex-wife. He spends much time going around in circles about the origin of his own first name; indeed this is a major theme of his inner life. Then there is his sexual mindscape. Dare I say, I was put off by this whole thread and as the story went on and Bellini went more and more crude, I started rolling my eyes.

Anyhoo. Bellini works for a formidable dame called Dora, a memorable character who smokes Tiparillos and listens to classical music incessantly- Paganini when she's in a funk, amusingly. I almost wished Dora had more to do here, although she's the one who pulls the strings, runs the show and figures the mystery out. As for the other characters, they're all suitably shady, kooky, druggy, scary, mysterious or pathetic, as can be expected in a story that takes place largely in the seedy underbelly of the prostitution scene in a metropolis like Sao Paulo. (In fact in tone and atmosphere, this novel reminded me of the Netflix series 4 Estaciones en Habana.)

It's a short, fast-paced read, much in the hard-boiled private-eye style. Bellini eats a lot of salami sandwiches, drinks a lot of beer, and doesn't seem to operate before midnight. He's diligent enough when he works on the missing person case that Dora presents him with, the client being a wealthy surgeon who seems obsessed with a missing dancer. Then, as is wont to happen, the surgeon ends up brutally murdered in his office.

The story weaves in and out of Sao Paulo and a few other smaller cities, among all the side characters while we witness Bellini chunter on about his inner demons. (For some reason I frequently confused the name Bellini with that of the author himself- Belloto- and this resulted in some unintended amusement.)

All said and done, would I read another of this series? I am not sure. If this installment was any indication, Bellini will continue to rhapsodize about breasts and tuna sashimi (ick!) in the next one and that might just throw me over the edge. Bellini and the Sphinx was just interesting enough in its setting to keep me satisfied. I might well leave it at that.

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Remo Bellini, a private detective in San Paulo Brazil , is assigned a missing persons task. It begins with a missing night club dancer, but soon turns into a murder investigation with complications that continue to the very end. In fact, unlike many detective novels, the culprit is not revealed to nearly the end. This is basically a short humorous novel with all the elements of a typical detective story. It is a little seedy at times, but it is an easy , quick read. I must admit that there were times that "The Pink Panther " came to mind , and I could not help comparing Remo Bellini to inspected Jacques Clouseau.

Beautifully written and translated. Bellini is a strange character with various paranoias and triggers. All of the characters in this novel are very intricate and you are able to form a relationship with each and everyone of them. The shocker at the end about Beatriz still has me reeling. It was a wonderful mystery with lots of turns and shocks and you never really know who the culprit is until the very end. I loved Dora, her character was very amicable and a great edition to the story. This novel gave you an inside look on Brazilian culture, but without making it feel unfamiliar.

Author Bellotto has created a character, Remo Bellini, a novice private detective. The author himself is best known in Brazil as guitarist for the rock band, The Titans, and has been the editor for two books in the NOIR series. What to make of his attempt into the mystery genre? BELLINI AND THE SPHINX is a quick, light read with all the stereotypical tough cops, charming hookers, drug using cab drivers, nervous witnesses, seedy informers, and - most important of all - a self-conflicted private eye. The cast of characters in Bellotto's mystery novel drink early in the morning and late at night. They do drugs occasionally, have sex when the opportunity arises, and the males think OFTEN about women (or a lot about sex), even to the point of saying things that sound NOT quite politically correct in the year 2019. Some women will roll their eyes at the thoughts of Detective Remo Bellini while others will laugh. Some women (and perhaps some men) will toss the book in the trash. Reading BELLINI AND THE SPHINX can be a fun experience or it can be a disappointment. It will depend on what the reader's expectations are for the mystery genre. Tony Bellotto is no Henning Mankell. This man is not a master of his craft. If the book sells well, it may be more because of Bellotto's reputation as a rock musician rather than because of his writing talents.

On balance, the characters are, for the most part, well drawn, and the book has a rather playful air if one's political sensibilities are not too sensitive. Reading BELLINI AND THE SPHINX is rather like watching a quick, one-hour TV show which, a few months from now, one may or may not remember. The plot is fairly predictable (well, there might be a few surprises, but not many), and one will close the last page thinking that Bellotto is a mystery writer of a genre we can call "mystery light." Despite the literary references and a little mythology thrown in here and there, don't expect anything too profound and deep. If one wants to explore the mystery genre through Brazilian writers, Luis Alfredo Garcia Rosa and his Inspector Espinosa series are recommended as far superior.

The short story collection São Paulo Noir was not only my introduction to Akashic Books' award-winning noir anthology series, it also happened to be the first example of Brazilian literature released in English that I had the pleasure of reading. Edited by Tony Bellotto and translated by Clifford E. Landers, the volume includes thirteen stories from fourteen contributors: Vanessa Barbara, Ilana Casoy, Tony Bellotto, Jô Soares, Mario Prata, Marçal Aquino, Drauzio Varella, Fernando Bonassi, Marcelo Rubens Paiva, Beatriz Bracher and Maria S. Carvalhosa, Ferréz, Olivia Maia, and Marcelino Freire.

As with any anthology, some of the individual stories worked better for me than others. I got the feeling that a few of the pieces would have been better told through a different medium — film or television perhaps (more than one contributor were also screen- or scriptwritiers). In general I found the stories which attempted a more humorous tone less enjoyable as the more serious ones, but at the same time the prominence of misogyny, gender-based violence, homophobia, and so on in those wasn't pleasant either. (I realize São Paulo Noir is a collection of noir fiction, which often utilizes dark, seedy, and troubling elements of human nature and society; maybe I just wasn't in the right mood when reading the anthology, or it could be that some of the issues just hit too close to home.)

The volume starts out strongly and I particularly liked the selections written by women, but overall there were more stories that I didn't care for than I did. Even so, I consider São Paulo Noir a successful anthology as a whole — I now have several more authors on my list whose other work I would like to seek out.

This is an enjoyable collection of stories, and I say that as someone who doesn't usually like short stories. Although its focus is the noir genre, I feel like it's a pretty good intro to modern Brazilian fiction in general. Not all of the stories really succeed in being noir as I understand it but most are good stories despite that. I like seeing how different authors interpret the noir genre outside of a North American setting (a stereotypical hardboiled US city setting especially). I've been trying to expose myself to more Lusophone literature in general, so this was a welcome find.

It's an Akashic Noir book. That's really all that needs to be said to help you realize you're getting really well-written and riveting stories. You also get to travel the world - admittedly, you go to places you wouldn't want to be caught dead in...because you'll be caught dead in them.

This collection of stories once again delivers. I thought there were one or two that weren't at the level I'm use to from Akashic, but that still meant there was another dozen or so that were well worth the time. This and all others in the series come highly recommended!

Sao Paulo Noir started out on an excellent note. I loved the first contributions to this collection and quite a few were, surprisingly, humorous. I found that the further I read, though, the less enamored with the selections I became. That's not to say I didn't enjoy them. I just found them less interesting. I still love the Akashic Noir series and wouldn't hesitate to purchase new editions or to recommend them to others.

This was a very good anthology of short stories, all set in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Many of the authors easily drew me into their narrative, using the "noir" genre to great effect. This is either the fourth or fifth volume I've read from the Akashic Noir series, and from my experience it is one of the best. So, I'll commend this for you reading pleasure, and put in pitch for Helsinki Noir, which was outstanding.

São Paulo Noir is an anthology of thirteen short stories situated in São Paulo, the largest city in South America famed for its contradictions, its deep poverty and conspicuous wealth, privation and consumption, lascivious celebrations and deep piety. A collection of short stories that captures those contradictions seems impossible, but São Paulo Noir seems to succeed with ease.

Anyone who follows my reviews knows I am a big fan of the series of anthologies from Akashic Books called Akashic Noir. They are the ultimate armchair travel, not just to another place but to another mood, the mood of noir. In this edition, there are thirteen stories by Brazilian authors in different neighborhoods of the famed city. I listed the contents at the bottom if you’re familiar with Brazilian authors. I am not, so each was a fresh voice.

This collection is more classically noir than many others in the series. Bellotto felt no need to prove something by stretching the boundaries of noir. I appreciate the truth in advertising. Many stories have elements of that most Latin American of literary genres, magic realism, but others are completely realistic. The first, “Cross Contamination” is one of my favorites, a maid cleaning a murder scene is also teaching the new trainee and you realize her years as a maid give her a Holmesian deductive capacity and interest, to perhaps her detriment. One short story, in particular, cracked me up. It was written by the humorist Jô Soarest and had a detective remarkably skilled in the pratfall. Mario Prata’s “Teresão” is very surreal, though I suppose it’s possible. “24-Hour Service” is opens with a remarkable game of Telephone, particularly remarkable in its ability to keep the message consistent.

There are stories of corruption, madness, compulsion, snobbery, and vanity. All the vices that drive the noir world.

São Paulo Noir has the best introduction of all the Akashic Noir series. It’s short, without specifics about the different stories, but it still sets the mood beautifully in a very short and poetic essay. I loved the stories and think this is one of the stronger in the series.

I received an e-galley of São Paulo Noir from the publisher through Edelweiss.

São Paulo Noir at Akashic Books
Akashic Noir Series
Tony Bellotto on GoodReads


https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2018/06/13/sao-paulo-noir-by-tony-be...

Tony Belloto shines as both the brilliant editor and as the author of a hard-boiled tale in this group of stories featuring prostitute killers, killer maids, fixers that can’t fix anything, people who have themselves kidnapped and of course detectives. One feels immersed in a Murakami novel with different narrators. All the voices combine to create a rich fabric of vice and destitution. A microcosm of the present day – and not just in Sao Paulo….”…we had some good weed! Third world stuff, heavy and social at the same time…” Slice of a city, slice of the world.

SAO PAULO NOIR edited by Tony Bellotto is a new release by Akashic Books. It is a welcome addition to their Noir series which was launched in 2004 with BROOKLYN NOIR. Each title is an anthology of short stories with a mandatory, distinctive ‘noir’ style.
The format is similar in each title. There is an introduction by the editor(s); a map of the area; a Table of Contents; an About the Contributors section which highlights the authors.
I particularly like the introductions as they ‘set the stage’ for the particular city or area we are about to visit.
Tony Bellotto’s introduction to SAO PAULO NOIR is comprised of very interesting facts about Sao Paulo. He says this area was once called ‘The Land of Mist’ and though he was born in Jardim Paulista, he knows “little of the great metropolis that comprises it.” “More than historians and sociologists, writers have always been able to transform cities into great characters. This is the way we decipher devouring sphinxes.”
I like the map. Looking at the map and reading the corresponding stories ignites my curiosity and I often read a ‘Noir series’ book with an atlas in hand.
I like reading about the authors in the Contributor’s Section.
The stories are top-notch and exemplify all the aspects of true noir - a genre characterized by cynicism, fatalism, moral ambiguity; dark, brooding and raw.

SAO PAULO NOIR is divided into 3 parts (Part I: Hallucination City; Part II: Sao Paulo, Inc.; Part III: Discreet Inelegance) with 13 stories.
“Cross Contamination” by Vanessa Barbara - 2 very interesting chambermaids, Cleo and Lena
“Boniclaide and Mrs. Als" by Ilana Casoy - Wow, very dark. “It wasn’t she who had killed. It was He who didn’t save her.”
“Useless Diary” by Tony Bellotto - liked the shifting ‘case’ and the death of John Lennon
“My name is Nicky Nicola” by Jo Soares - 16 chapters; hilarious in a sad, noir sort of way; liked the ‘Bastos Exercises’
“Teresao” by Mario Prata - teeth wired together?; very complicated kidnapping plot
“As if the world were a good place” by Marcal Aquino - an excerpt from the novel with the same title
“Margot” by Drauzio Varella
“ 24-Hour Service” by Fernando Bonassi - “It begins at 2 a.m.”
“The Final Table” by Marcelo Rubens Paiva
“The Force is with Me” by Beatriz & Maria S. Carvalhosa
“Flow” by Ferrez
“Coffee Stain” by Olivia Maia
“Any similarity is not purely coincidental” by Marcelino Freire - very bizarre

An excellent addition to Akashic Book’s Noir series. The reader will not be disappointed.

I have read many books in the Akashic Noir series, and this is one that I would not recommend reading. The subject matter is about poverty, squalor, and drug abuse.

The first one of these Akashic Noir series I read was Stockholm Noir, which had a high percentage of hits to misses. Not so this one. Nearly all the stories have to do with drug trafficking; so maybe if you like that kind of thing, this might be worth an extra star to you. There is one dandy story here, though -- THE STORY OF GEORGES FULLAR by Raphael Montes. I actually laughed out loud long and hearty at the final line. BTW -- in case you don't know, a favela is a low-income historically informal urban area in Brazil. You likely would have figured that out from the context; but the word appears so often in these tales, I thought I'd help you out a little.