A Breath of Life

Clarice Lispector
Translated from the Portuguese by Johnny Lorenz
Preface by Pedro Almodóvar & Benjamin Moser

For Clarice Lispector, my friend, A Breath of Life would be her definitive book.

Begun in 1974 and finished in 1977, on the eve of her death, this book, so difficult for her to produce, was, in the words of Clarice, “written in agony,” for it was born from a painful impulse she was unable to contain. During this same period she was also writing The Hour of the Star, her last published novel.

For eight years I lived with Clarice Lispector, participating in her creative process. I wrote down her thoughts, typed her manuscripts and most of all shared in her moments of inspiration. As a result, she and her son Paulo entrusted me with the organization of the pages of A Breath of Life.