THE TWO DEATHS OF QUINCAS WATERYELL

Jorge Amado, is a widely known Brazilian author (Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon. 1962, and other novels), who has been published in thirty-two languages. In this short, macabrely Jolly tale, a man who has been an embarrassment to his stuffy family since he left them to live like a slum drunk finally dies. The family dresses him for the funeral, relieved to have him looking respectable again. But his disreputable friends ""rescue"" the body and take it on a final spree among the town's prostitutes, gamblers, and others of the dead man's friends, all of whom are apparently too drunk to realize he is a corpse. They finally lose the body Overboard during a midnight sailing party, presumably a more fitting end for so free a spirit. A short story, rather than a novel, this displays Amado's humor and humanity in small scope...a minor work.