Max and the Cats

This is the original book at the centre of the Man Booker Prize controversy. The winner this past year of course was Yann Martel?s, The Life of Pi. Read this brilliant, most unusual novel and compare for yourself. Moacyr Scliar is one of Brazil?s most respected writers. Max and the Cats tells the story of Max Schmidt, who is born in Germany in 1912, the son of a furrier. The story follows his coming of age and his emigration to Brazil. Max`s life story is structured around his experiences with three big felines: a stuffed tiger in his father`s shop, a jaguar, and an onca (a Brazilian wildcat). Much of his story takes place under the specter of World War II and the Nazis, other elements of the novel tap into the myth of the Americas as a new world of opportunity. Max and the Cats is a weird, wonderful tale: a dazzling mix of fantasy and gritty reality, readers will be awed by the brilliance of award winning Brazilian writer, source of inspiration, Moacyr Scliar. (March 2003)