The Dwarf in the Television Set by Moacyr Scliar

 


The Dwarf in the Television Set by Moacyr Scliar - a collection of seventeen tales by a great Brazilian author who injects a special magic into Latin American magical realism.

Do you like tales of the fabulous stretching from Gogol to Borges, from Cortázar to Kafka? If so, you've come to the right place - Moacyr Scliar will surprise and stun, titillate and tickle. Let me share a taste of Moacyr magic by focusing on the following from the collection:

THE DWARF IN THE TELEVISION SET
"It is terrible to be a dwarf and have to live inside a television set - even if it happens to be a gigantic color TV; however, there is at least one advantage: When the TV is turned off, it is then possible to watch some very interesting scenes from behind the screen."

So begins this kooky tale told by a dwarf forced to life his life in...well, a television set.

It all started, so the dwarf tells us, when Gastão brought a TV set to the apartment - one of many TV sets in the apartment, a huge apartment, as Gastão is currently wealthy ever since he took over his father's jumbo department store when the old man died.

Before running the department store, Gastão was enrolled in courses in the dramatic arts. Actually, that's where he and the dwarf met.

As we quickly find out, Gastão has a particularly intriguing relationship with the dwarf living inside his TV, a relationship made abundantly manifest when a young newlywed couple, employees of the department story, pay a visit to Gastão's apartment.

Such a curious event - Gastão on the couch with the young man and young woman as the dwarf, invisible to all, sits in the now turned off TV set, sits as if an audience member in a darkened front seat in a theater. The dwarf watches and listens to Gastão and his two guests on the living room couch as if the trio were actors on the stage.

Then it happens: the young lady excuses herself to go to the bathroom. The young man takes this opportunity to tell Gastão about their marital difficulty: pause for effect - his wife is frigid. Gastão offers what the dwarf judges as saccharine advice.

Enough is enough. The dwarf swings into action; the dwarf makes his presence felt. High drama leading to...for Moacyr to tell.

THE LOVES OF A VENTRILOQUIST
"A fat woman looks at me and smiles; a thin man looks at me and smiles; a father points me out to his son, then they both look at me and smile. People know me. I'm the famous Albano, the ventriloquist."

We follow the adventures of Albano the ventriloquist. He starts off performing solo - well, actually not entirely solo since there's his dummy Peewee. How's it going, Peewee? Terrible, Albano. What's wrong, Peewee? Lack of women, Albano! The audience goes crazy with delight.

Feeling lonely and isolated, Albano accepts an offer to join the circus. Unfortunately Albano suffers a stroke of bad luck: he must share living quarters, one of the circus trailers, with Aneau, the strongman, who hates him to pieces.

Albano suffers even a greater stroke of bad luck: He falls in love with the gorgeous Malvina, the lion tamer. This Scliar snapper has a twist at the end most unexpected both for the reader and Albano.

AT THE FIGTREE RETREAT
"I always thought that it was much too good. Especially the place. The place was...was wonderful. Just as the prospectus said: wonderful. Tranquil, full of trees, one of the very few places - according to the advertisement - where you could still hear birds sing. And we also ascertained that the houses were indeed solid and beautiful, just as the prospectus stated: solid and beautiful houses in modern style."

Too good to be true? The narrator and his wife find out the hard way the prospectus failed to mention all the attacks, the violence, the criminals, the need for police in riot gear. So much for retreating at the Figtree Retreat!

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*Note to readers of English: All of the stories in The Dwarf in the Television Set are included in The Collected Stories of Moacyr Scliar published by University of New Mexico Press, translator: Eloah F. Giacomelli. This definitely is the book to go with.


Brazilian author Moacyr Scliar, 1937-2011